


Just Like Clockwork

by Aspiring_Life



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Enemies, Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Enemy AU, F/M, Some more adult content I suppose, Steampunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2018-07-23 16:36:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7471101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aspiring_Life/pseuds/Aspiring_Life
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ladybug is a vigilante hero to the people, but to Chat Noir she is nothing more than a thief. The duo is the adorable couple everyone loves to watch and be saved by, but underneath is a constant war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something Different

“Yes! Finished!” Marinette hollered as she held her newest variation into the air, throwing her other fist up in victory and almost dropping the machine in the process.

She quickly caught the piece and got up from her workbench, a grin splitting her face as she started looking around her room. “Tikki!”

She looked through a pile of paper scraps for her kwami but couldn’t find her. She sighed, looking around one last time before saying, “Tikki, if you come out I’ll give you another washer.”

Almost immediately a small whirring and clicking came to life over by her bed. She turned just in time to see the small mechanical friend come hovering out from under her pillows, the little propeller antenna on her head spinning in their synchronized circles.

“Did someone say something about washers?” She asked as her metallic jaw clicked with her yawn, the sound of metal scraping on metal grating on Marinette’s ears as Tikki reached to rub her white lit eyes.

Marinette smiled, holding up her mechanism. “Tikki, look! I finished it.”

Immediately, the little kwami’s eyes flashed and went wide, her metal face contorting as her backing away a little. “Is this one going to explode? Or is it going to start blasting steam again? I really don’t want another rusted joint.”

Marinette frowned, huffing as she grabbed a strip of leather from her wall, draping it around her machine then tying it around her like a sash. The cold metal pressed into her back as she started towards the ladder in the corner of her room. “I’m sure I have it right this time. Last time I’d put one too many pumps in it. And the time before I’d used a piston when I should have used a pressurized method instead.”

Her little kwami hitched to the side a little as she flew, her head twitching slightly. “If you say so. Hey, I seem to be having trouble with my left rotator again. Can you take a look at it?”

Marinette’s eyebrow rose beyond her bangs. “Another? Tikki, are you sure we shouldn’t just shut you down and take you to Fu for a day or two?”

“And leave the Plat without a Ladybug? Not gonna happen.” The kwami said, just as her twitching antenna forced her to land on her wielder's shoulder. 

“Alright, if you say so.” Marinette relented as she pushed her way into the upper story.

She crawled her way into the greenhouse above. The tinted blue glass let in just enough light for the flowers of this area, and the yellow and clear glasses of the other rooms cascaded slightly over the polished floors.

She could see the clouds above outside and switched on the light regulator, hearing the small engine come to life as she approached a small panel in the wall.

“Are you sure this one’s going to work?” Tikki asked again, always fussing.

Marinette smiled reassuringly, pulling the machine off of her back. “I’m positive. Now, stand back.”

The Kwami bot flew to the other side of the greenhouse, burrowing her way into a flower’s petals to keep herself protected.

Marinette grinned and pried open the panel, looking at the empty mess of pipes and wires within. She started pulling them out, plugging them into different ports on the new mechanism. The water lines fit perfectly, and after a few adjustments of the electrical wires, everything was in place.

When she slid the piece into place she was pleased by how well the other lines moved around it. Still, she had to see if it would work.

She stood back a little, pulling out a pair of strapless goggles to hold over her eyes as she reached out, her bare finger quickly flipping the switch in the middle of the machine on.

She turned her back on the mechanism, waiting for it to start sparking, groaning, and blow once again. But, nothing of the sort happened. She heard the machine start up, and slowly started purring.

She spun in wonder, studying how the water easily flowed in and out of the machine, its knobs and gages reading all the right input and output values.

She didn’t celebrate yet, though. She ran to a bed of flowers that had been flooded for far too long and looked into it. That’s when she noticed that the water was slowly going down, and the roots were starting to be revealed as needing more soil.

She whirled as she heard a hose come to life on another table, dripping water out to the occupying plants, and on another where some nutrients were being sprayed out in a mist over the stems.

She laughed and spun in a circle, relishing in her accomplishment, running to slam the panel shut.

“Tikki! Tikki, it works!” She leaped into the air, her leather-clad hands clapping sharply in excitement as her booted feet landed back on the polished floor with a squeak.

The kwami came flying out, celebrating with the girl as they spun around the flower nursery.

Marinette had been working on a system regulator for months now, and finally, she’d finished it. Now, she could keep all of her flowers healthy, and keep her business running.

She didn’t really need the flower business, not with the money from her family’s bakery still holding them up well. But, she still loved the idea of growing such beautiful things up on the Plat.

The Plat was the floating structure they lived on. It was a town that had long ago been raised from the ground by floating metallic balloons and large propellers on the bottom. It was a genius structure really. The entire thing was run on carbon dioxide from all the balloons and zeppelins that ran around the city. It basically worked like a plant in absorbing the compound and converting it into water, normal air, and energy.

So, they never had to go down to get water, or had to go back to the surface because of fumes.

Why was it called the Plat? She didn’t know. Maybe it was short for ‘platform’? No one really knew or cared.

She knew it was once called Paris, and it still had the iconic Eiffel Tower, but she didn’t know really why this city had been lifted from the ground other than to escape the poverty and fighting.

Up here, there was only room for the rich (or at least better off). There were still slums in the city, and still those low in class, but nothing compared to the surface.

She’d been there once. She remembered when she was young and her parents had taken her to the surface to deliver food the to survivors and to those who were in need.

It was filthy on the surface, people wallowing and sleeping in mud huts, ditches, and trenches. She saw women on the street selling off themselves for money; men, walking about with guns strapped to their sides or on their backs; and children running from person to person to pick pockets until they were caught and hauled into alleys, not to be seen again.

It made her appreciate just how lucky she was to live on the Plat. 

Well, she appreciated almost all of it. 

She’d been looking for some fresh air to breathe—the rest almost like mud—when she’d stumbled into a flower shop on the outskirts of the town. The air in there was fresh and smelled sweet. She’d taken in big lungfuls before looking around the establishment in a gape.

She’d never seen any sort of flora or fauna before, it being only a menace to the structure of the Plat with its roots and vines bending and rusting the metal streets and ground. But here, she saw working and beautifully sculpted boxes of flowers and plants.

The storekeeper gave her a few packages of each kind of flower seed, begging her to take them with her.

“God knows I can’t make use of them besides for breathing.” The old man claimed, his hands shaking. “Take them with you and share them with those up there. Please.”

So, she’d done as he asked.

It took a few months of experimenting and researching from the oldest books in the libraries, but she’d finally found all the correct methods for growing each kind of flower. Now, her business was booming, everyone wanting flowers for their galas and balls.

She grew anything from Baby’s Breathe to Yellow Hibiscus but found the most popular to be orange Dahlia (a good compliment to the copper of the town hall), blue Balloon Flowers (typically outside venues), pink Carnations (thank you Chloe Bourgeois), and finally, cream and purple Ranunculus (often ordered by Mr. Gabriel Agreste himself).

Marinette gently sighed and settled down from her celebration to sit next to a box filled with cream Ranunculus. Her hand came out on its own accord, stroking a flower’s stem lovingly. She loved the flower on its own, but because it was tied to the Agrestes it made it her favorite.

Rarely did Mr. Agreste actually order the flowers for himself, or even his own venue. No, most of the time he ordered them for his fashion shows, and more specifically, for his son’s photo shoots.

She flipped in her seat, flopping back against the metallic box as pure joy ran through her. Adrien Agreste, the one and only, had been photographed countless times now with her flowers in the background, or even accompanying him in the newest outfit and trend.

He never knew it was her of course, his father making sure never to let him know his old classmate was their florist (something to do with favoritism and rumors). But just the thought that he enjoyed the flowers as much as she did made her heart soar.

Her thoughts were cut short as one of the hoses turned on, spraying a small stream up over the brim of her cap and into her face. She sat up sputtering and spitting as mud mixed in with her long braid and caked her hands in her attempts to scramble up.

She fell to the floor with a thunk, just as she heard a knock on the door to her flower shop, just beyond a curtain to her right. She stood up, wiping her hands on an apron hanging near the door before stepping through and going to open up the shop.

And in came scrambling none other than her best friend: Alya.

The brunette stumbled up to her friend, a grin plastered to her face as her hands clutched Marinette’s shoulders.

“Let me guess, another sighting?” Marinette chuckled before her friend could get a word out, trying to steady the panting and sweating young woman.

“Yes!” Alya shrieked and bent over, breathing heavily while raising a finger. Marinette smiled, unlatching Alya’s fingers from her to run and grab a chair from the consultation corner and a glass of water.

“So, where’d you see her this time?” Marinette asked as her friend threw herself into the chair.

“Not _her_ this time.” Alya said as her breathing leveled out, her eyes going wide and bright. “I saw _him_. And it wasn’t even in an article.”

Marinette felt something in her chest move, whether it was dread or something else, she didn’t know. “You saw Chat Noir out today?”

Alya nodded so fast it was surprising her head didn’t snap off by accident. “Yeah. He was out by the zeppelin district, and it appeared he was looking for someone.”

Marinette had to hold herself back from scowling. “Do you think he was looking for Ladybug?”

Alya’s eyes sparked. “Well, I mean, those lovebirds are inseparable. But we haven’t seen our crimson Lady in nearly a month! He must be desperate to see her again.”

Marinette spun away, walking to the counter to hide the grimace that crossed her face. “Oh, right, they’re like, star-crossed lovers or something, right?”

“Or something,” Alya said from the lip of her glass as she downed the rest of her water. “Have you ever seen those two around each other! I mean, they might as well just hold up a sign saying, ‘Cutest Couple Alive’.”

Marinette hoped Alya didn’t notice the growl that bubbled up her throat. “Well, if he’s out, then there must be a reason. Maybe another one of those, what were they called again? Akumas? Maybe one of them will show up and then you can get another shot of those two.”

Alya flounced back in the chair, throwing her arm over her face dramatically. “Oh, I wish, but fate is never that kind.”

Marinette ground her teeth as she turned back around, desperate to find a new subject.

“Is that a new outfit?” She said suddenly, hoping it would be enough to distract her chatter bird friend.

Alya’s face turned coy as she smirked up at the raven haired girl. “Oh, alright, I’ll stop with my fangasming for your sake. For your information, Ms. I-design-clothing-for-models-and-am-also-their-florist, it is new. Thanks for noticing.”

Alya was clad in a pair of auburn overalls with a red shirt beneath, still washed out looking as well. The tights that stretched down to her heeled boots were an acid washed amber with a single fingerless glove on her right arm to accompany. 

Marinette knew the glove was actually made of a fabric metal hybrid she’d made to protect Alya’s arm while she attempted to take pictures of Ladybug and Chat Noir, but she never thought she’d actually wear it.

On her hip, she still had her leather belt with her camera holder and emergency smoke bomb dispenser.

It was a good look. “It’s a good look for you.”

Alya grinned and got up curtsying. “I’m glad it can impress even you.”

Marinette smiled and looked her friend over. “So, besides to bug me with more news on Ladynoir, did you come for anything else? I have to go work on some commissions for Mr. Bourgeois.”

Alya pursed her lips, flopping back into her chair. “What is it illegal to bug your best friend now? Oh, how the times have changed.”

Marinette huffed fakely, rolling her eyes and smiling as she walked up to Alya. “Well, if you aren’t gonna leave, do you at least want to see the regulator I finished?”

Alya looked almost as shocked as Marinette had expected. “You actually got it working this time?”

Marinette nodded proudly, resting her hands on her hips. “Yep!”

“And it’s not going to explode like the last two?” Alya asked, cautiously raising her protected arm.

Marinette frowned. “The second one didn’t explode. It just blew a gasket and started spitting steam.”

“Same thing,” Alya said but she’d risen to her feet. “Alright, I’ll see.”

Marinette grinned and lead the way into the greenhouse. But just as the girls entered the sweet-smelling sanctuary a rumble shook the ground as a muffled explosion was heard from somewhere outside. Both girls braced themselves in a squat as the shaking slowly subsided, but each reaction was drastically different.

Marinette glared out at the column of smoke while Alya’s face split in a Cheshire grin and her eyes went alight. Marinette turned to her friend, a scowl covering her face. “No, Alya. We should stay here.”

“Oh, Mari, you’re such a buzzkill. You can stay here if you want. I need to go get some pictures.” Alya said, bouncing slightly as she slowly crept towards the door.

“Alya, no, wait!”

But before she could do anything the brunette had taken off, sprinting out the door and probably down the steal streets.

Marinette cursed under her breath and ran towards the other side of the shop, back to the hatch leading to her room. “Tikki? We have another one.”

The mechanical friend wasted no time in popping out and zipping over to her. “Finally! We haven’t been out in almost a month.”

“Well, now we are going for a little run,” Marinette said as she jumped down into her room, sliding on her knees over to the chest under her bed.

She pulled from it, her Ladybug outfit, as she wrenched off the old timepiece that was pinned to her belt. She looked to her kwami as she stripped herself of her blouse and skirt.  
“Transform me!” She commanded as she slipped on her shorts and her belted corset top.

She watched as her mechanical friend began to collapse in on herself, folding up in shuttered layers until she was about the size of a euro coin, and sank easily into the middle of the timepiece. From the edge shot out a cord and handle, from which she knew she could throw the device and swing. From the other side shot out the small pebble that was the power side of Ladybug.

She stood up, slipping on her other boots as the wires and metal laces sprung forth from the pebble, wrapping around her new shoes and up her body. Her legs were enveloped in the wires as they formed her red and black striped tights and came up to form the metallic collar at her throat and the metal casing of her right shoulder.

The tights were actually a network of micro-fibers meant to help her jump higher, run longer and faster, and take impacts better. The shoulder guard allowed her to swing easier by taking the weight off her joint as she went from structure to structure. Wires laced out to take the belts off her corset, replacing them with large clock and gear fittings to help stabilize and protect her.

She quickly undid her braid and instead threw it up into a ponytail as it unwound itself. On her thigh, she replaced her sewing kit with a repair kit and a small sack which held the mini-mechanical ladybugs she’d made.

The ladybugs were only for the end of the mission. After taking out the small butterfly that supplied the chemicals to anger a victim they would capture the mechanical insect and syphon out the compounds, leaving it harmless. Then they’d travel around the city repairing the damages of the battle, only to return to her sack within minutes.

The final touch was her cuffed leather gloves and her red and black spotted cloth mask tied around her eyes to hide her identity.

Now, she saw Ladybug, the vigilante who tormented Hawkmoth and was a ‘lover’ to Chat Noir.

She grinned at her reflection from across her room, holding the newly formed yo-yo in her hand. It was good to be back.

She tested her mechanical aids by leaping through her hatch, and out through a skylight in the greenhouse, perching gently on one of the support beams.

She grinned as the breeze from the high clouds tickled her eyes and threw her hair away from her neck. But her attention was soon taken up by the billowing column of black smoke that looked to be over in the mechanics district.

She frowned. Who would be upset over there? There was always work, and the people there were some of the nicest she’d met. Still, she knew that someone had been affected, and she had to fix things.

She took off running, using her yo-yo to sling from one roof to the next, the air rushing by giving her the buzz of the chase.

But the buzz still wasn’t enough to take away her awareness of a presence that soon joined in her run. 

They came leaping in from the South, their foot pointed right at her head as they attempted to land her. Marinette rolled to the side luckily, just as the black-clad mass landed next to her on the steel tiled roof.

She heard claws clattering and metal scraping metal as the figure took the impact hard, but still sprung back to their feet.

Marinette sneered as she was forced to a halt, turning to the young man standing at the crest of the roof. “It’s been a while, _Kitty_.”

Chat Noir’s grin was just as sickening as it had been before. “Ah, My Lady. It has been some time. But I suppose absence does make the heart grow fonder.”

Marinette grimaced, standing back to her full height. “If that were true you’d need a heart to start with.”

Chat raised a hand, pressing it to his chest in feigned injury as he leaned back, using a pole on the ceiling to swing him around in a circle as he groaned mockingly. “Why, My Lady!” he said in mock horror as he swung back around, a shit-eating grin plastered to his face, “I’m hurt. Don’t you know this old black cat has already given it to you.”

“Are you talking about that net bomb you gave me?” She asked with a scowl twisting her features at the memory. (To his credit, it had been vaguely heart-shaped).

He smiled, shrugging. “Purr-haps.”

She grimaced, studying the young man. 

He still looked the same as before.

He wore black knee high boots with black dress pants, no doubt to hide his own enhancing mechanisms. His belt buckle that was frankly too large was accompanied by two suspenders in helping to hold down the white open-necked shirt he wore (she found out they had no use at actually hold up his pants long ago). His jacket was still covered in the same patchy straps and metallic panels here and there, no doubt feeding to gloves at the end of his hands.

She’d never really cared much to acquaint herself with those claws, but they still fascinated her. They were operated by different pumps in the sleeves, feeding to the kerosene jets and the sparking rotor in his thumb. More pumps and pressurizes gave him superhuman grip and his claws the ability to extend on command.

His mechanical ears that were perched in his floppy windblown hair seemed to serve no purpose until one noticed the small wire running down to an earpiece in each of his actual ears. Turns out, they were actually used to listen and allowed for better hearing than most animals could have had.

His tail, on the other hand, served no purpose other than to annoy her.

She looked up into this green tinted goggles and glared. “Well, I suppose we’ve done a good job of convincing the public thus far. My friend thinks we’re the cutest couple alive.”

“Oooh.” Chat plopped down onto the top of the roof, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees as he smiled again, “Do tell.”

She saw something spark in his eyes as he looked across to her, almost daring her to not go on. Her expression hardened as she came to remember that he probably already knew everything there was to know about them in the media.

He’d been looking for her after all.

Luckily, she was kept from saying anything too harsh as another blast shook the ground beneath them.

The two teens locked eyes and there was a silent agreement to get back to this later.

They took off running, charging over the roofs as Chat closed the distance between them in a single roll.

“I hope you haven’t gotten rusty in your acting, _My_ Lady.” He purred as they cleared another alley.

Marinette kept herself from growling at the young man. “Oh, I’m not the one you have to worry about, _Kitty_.”

And there was the long awaited snarl as Chat took off ahead of her, dropping down to run along the street instead. 

Marinette smiled in spite of herself. She knew that nickname annoyed him, and he knew she used it just to bug the living hell out of him.

They’d been in a feud ever since he tried to capture her for his father for the first time. Until then, they’d worked together just fine. Now, for some reason, he thought she’d stolen something from his father, even though she has no idea who his father even is.

Still, he always tried and failed, to take her captive for the sake of his father.

Each battle was a new adventure for them, and after getting a bolt the size of a tire thrown at her head, she knew this was going to be another fun one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~I FREAKING LOVE STEAMPUNK AND EMENY AUS~~.Strong language and very, ahem, adult themes are going to be presented.


	2. Close Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir and Marinette have a little tangle after a fight, and Marinette finds something out about Chat that she may be able to use against him.

“If I didn’t know any better,” Chat purred as he flexed his wrists in Marinette’s grasp. “I’d swear you’ve done this before.”

Marinette chuckled, setting her hips down on his as she panted for breath, trying to get control of her racing mind. “And who on earth would I have done this with other than you, Kitty?”

He shrugged, pulling his hands farther over his head and effectively forcing Marinette to lay flush against him. “I don’t know. Have you been cheating on me, My Lady?”

She hissed out a bitter laugh, tapping his pulse point thoughtfully. “Well, technically it wouldn’t be cheating if it were just practice, now would it?”

He smiled, leaning up ever so slightly to brush the tip of his nose against hers. Marinette grimaced and pulled away as far as she could, once again cursing the fact that he was taller than her.

She could smell the sweat coming off the two of them, and could feel it running down her back in cooling lines. “Have you been practicing, My Lady?” Chat asked, one of his claws toying with the back of her arm.

She shot him a bitter smile. “Maybe.”

He hummed deep in his throat, testing the grip she had on him once again before stealing when she shifted on his hips again, trying to get more comfortable.

“How long do you intend on staying like that?” Chat questioned, an eyebrow raising at the flush it pulled into the tallest part of her cheekbones.

She shot him a weary smile as she tried to catch her breath and assess the situation. “To be honest, Kitty. I almost enjoy this. It gives me enough time to think.”

She looked around the warehouse they had gotten into.

It was one of the smelters at the corner of town, meant for melting down old and rusted chunks of road or buildings to be reused. It was hotter than hell in here with all the furnaces going at once and the fans being turned off for the night.

The position the teens had landed in wasn’t helping much either.  
After the battle was won and they’d put on the loving couple gimmick long enough for the public, but soon slipped away into the back alleys. There, they’d started up another sparring match, leaping and crashing into one another while landing blows that never actually seemed to do anything.

Then she’d thought she’d been smart, slinging her yo-yo and herself up to the top story of the nearest building, trying to get up to the roof before he could slash at her.

It had worked, but only for a moment as he’d followed on his staff and crashed into her, knocking the both of them through a skylight and into a grappling match in the air.

When they hit Chat had taken most of the fall, Marinette landing on top. She’d used that to her advantage, pinning him to the floor by his wrists and straddling him so he couldn’t kick her.

And here they were, flush together in a hot sweat shop, drenched and panting as they each tried to come up with a way to get out of the situation. Marinette could hear one of the clocks on her corest time out, its gears slowly coming to a stop.

She was running out of time. She only had ten minutes before her transformation would begin to weaken, and once that began she’d only have five minutes before it left her entirely.

She needed to be home in that time, but how to get away from this boy?

She heard a huff below her but didn’t look at him. “What’s the matter, Kitty? Can’t handle your lady being so close?”

She could feel his smirk as he stared up at her, hooking one of his legs around her ankle. “Actually, My Lady, I was trying to decide if I should show off some of my new moves or not—”

Marinette was just turning to look at him when his hands gripped her wrists tightly, just the tips of his claws finding any purchase. She winced and squeaked in surprise as she was suddenly tumbling to the side, her legs falling to the floor in a harsh thump as Chat Noir was suddenly on top of her.

But this position was different and left her no room to breathe.

Chat laid atop her, one of his legs between hers as his hips pressed into her thigh. Their chests were flush together and his face hovered just above hers. If he wanted to, he only had to move an inch to press their lips together, but she knew the flirting was all an act.

Oh, if Alya could see them now.

He smirked down at her flustered and frightened expression as he drug her hands high above her head, leaving her fighting futilely against the mechanical grip. “—because I have been practicing.”

And suddenly Marinette knew there was no way of getting out of this. He had the lead this time, and he seemed to know what he was doing.

She fought against his grip again, futilely pulling at the claws that had now dug themselves into the floor. She looked around, trying to think of something, anything, that would get her out of this.

There was the steady feeling of his breath on her skin, the rhythmic beating of his heart through his chest, and even the sound of his tongue sliding out across his lips, but there was no scrambling for any sort of restraint or weapon.

Marinette looked back up at Chat Noir, waiting for him to jump up, take out his baton, and knock her out. But, he didn’t move.

She studied the young man above her, looking at all of his features. They were unreadable, schooled into a practiced looked of reserved thought, but his eyes betrayed him.

Through the goggles she could see them scanning her, taking in all that he could see, but more specifically her face, trying to memorize every detail.

She watched as they made a slow trek around her features, landing on each facet. They traced her eyebrows, following the curve of her brow bone to her cheek. Following that curve to her nose, then flashing to her eyes before moving lower, and finally coming to rest on what she guessed was either her chin or her lips.

She swallowed and let her mouth fall open into a soft O with her panting breaths. Chat hadn’t taken his eyes off her lips, and she couldn’t even begin to imagine why.

Something in her chest stirred, just as she came up with a way to get out of this position.

The front of his hips were currently pressed into her thigh. If she just raised her leg fast enough he’d…

She tried it, her knee popping up as fast as she could get it to move. She hit her target head on and watched Chat’s reaction.

His eyes locked on hers just as his face contorted and he nearly curled in on himself. His knees came up, allowing his back to arch as his head fell down towards his chest, pants escaping his lips.

Two things Marinette did not anticipate: 1.) When his knees slid up one went directly between her legs, causing her a great deal of her own discomfort, and 2.) as he’d curled in on himself he’d let his lips drag along the side of her face, and now he rested with his face pressed into the crook of her neck and his breath fanning out over her chest and throat.

Marinette ignored the way the lip brushing had made her shiver and had to block out the new feeling his breath was causing on her skin. She’d felt this all before, and knew none of it meant a thing to her, so long as she could get out of here.

She sat up then, pushing him off of her as he continued to inwardly curl. Soon she was standing, and he was in a ball on the floor with his eyes screwed shut and his hands between his legs.

A twinge of sorrow hit Marinette’s mind as she looked down at the young man, but it left as soon as his malice filled eyes were turned back on her.

“That was low,” he croaked out, “even for you.”

She scoffed, judging the distance between the ceiling beams and her current position. “I only stoop as low as the situation requires.”

The way his gaze burned as it touched her was not reassuring, but she didn’t turn to look at the blond as she swung her yo-yo up, hooking onto one of the rafters and testing its strength.

Good enough to hold her up.

She turned back to find Chat now having risen to one knee, but his leg still shook under him. “I’ll get you back for that.”

She smirked. “I don’t doubt it.”

She turned then, her hands poised on her yo-yo string as she readied her feet for another jump, but she was hit sideways suddenly by Chat as he charged her.

She held tight to her string, it swinging them around as she tried to take the weight of his impact. His clawed hands hissed as the steam powered compression units made their grip impossibly strong around her arms. She wanted to scream but kept the sound in her throat as she kicked out at him, hitting one of his knees.

He dropped to the ground in a kneel, his claws still wrapped around her arm. She was thankful his claws weren’t extended but worried that he wouldn’t be so soft on her in the next few seconds.

“Let go of me, you clingy cat”

“Not until you give me what you stole.” He purred in her ear as he shot back to his feet, reassuring his grip on her.

She struggled in his arms. “We’ve been over this, Kitty. I don’t know what you’re talking about. What did I steal?”

He went silent for a moment and Marinette had a sudden realization. “You don’t actually know what I supposedly stole, do you?”

She could hear the grinding of his teeth just above her shoulder as his fingers curled impossibly tighter on her arms, making tears come to eye in pain. “Shut up. You still stole something, and until you return it I’m not letting you go.”

 _Then I guess I’ll just have to get away again,_ she thought and clicked a button on the handle to her string.

The pull of their weight was enough for her to feel even with the mechanical help of her right brace as the two were rocketed into the air. Chat yelped and held tight to her, more for his own safety than for trying to capture her now.

She stopped only feet from the beam, waiting for him to let go, but Chat’s mechanical claws were still clamped onto her arms in a surprisingly sure grip.

“Put us down.” He hissed.

“Let go and I’ll think about it.”

He growled. “You know, I’m one second away from digging these claws into you.”

“You would have done it already if you were going to.” She commented, revelling in his angry silence. “Now, be a good kitty and let go of your lady.”

He chuckled bitterly from her shoulder, wrapping his legs around her waist. “Not gonna happen. These hands can stay like this for a few more hours.”

Marinette didn’t have a few more hours, and she knew it. She had to get this cat off, and now.

“Fine, we’ll do this the hard way.” She said and started messing with the mechanics on her string handle.

Before she really knew what she’d entered in, she was suddenly being shaken up and down and spun in circles. She started to feel sick, having to tense her muscles so her neck wouldn’t be snapped back from all the jarring.

Chat’s fingers did their best to hold onto her, but soon she felt his hands start to slip, and just barely clipping onto the back of her corset as they were swung around. She heard the engaging of his claws and knew that they had found purchase in the soft leather, her only hope was that it wouldn’t rip.

Unfortunately, it did. To its credit the corset lasted much longer than she had expected, only two or three of the clasps coming undone in the front. The back, on the other hand, finally ripped through when his claws tore through the material fully and pulled out a chunk.

Marinette did feel a small tinge of guilt as Chat was thrown through the air, smacking back first into one of the scaffolding holding up the ceiling.  
She stopped the mechanisms of her yo-yo and watched as he fell to the ground, slumping in a pile.

When he didn’t move she started to get worried. When she didn’t see any motion in his chest, she started to consider going down. When he didn’t respond to his own name, she started to panic.

She lowered herself with her yo-yo, dropping down to the floor and taking off in a run towards his motionless form. “No, no no no no!”

She dropped to her knees next to him and reached out, taking his head in her hands carefully as she sprawled him on his back. She couldn’t tell if he was breathing.

Marinette’s mind went into overdrive. She’d never meant to hurt the teen, let alone possibly kill him. His armored suit should have protected him, but now that it didn’t what was she supposed to do?

The longer she looked down at the blond, the hotter her blood ran. “You, stupid cat,” she barked as she gripped his hair possibly a little too tight. “You should have let go! I never stole anything, I never meant to hurt you. I only wanted us to be a team! Now, you went and made me hurt you. You stupid, stupid cat.”

She closed her eyes as her face flushed and her vision blurred. Her grip loosened on his hair as her instincts told her not to hurt him anymore.

She ran her hands through his hair, trying to breathe and trying to keep her panic from rising.

She couldn’t have killed him, she couldn’t. She was a nice person, and she’d sworn never to hurt anyone for any reason. And now Chat was hurt, and she couldn’t fix it.

She gripped his hair again when she couldn’t calm the rise and fall of her chest. She needed to ground herself somehow and keep her mind away from the thought this maybe coming out to the public.

Something warm slid over her hands, and the frantic pounding in her chest stopped. She didn’t look, hoping that it wasn’t his blood, but her mind was telling her that was absurd. Still, what was it?

“I know I’m stupid and all,” Chat said with a grin as she opened her eyes. “But I know better than to cry over a person who isn’t even dead.”

Marinette’s eyes dodged over his features, scanning his eyes, then the grin, then to his hands encompassing hers in his hair. She saw that he was indeed breathing and that his arms seemed to be in good use. And when he slid one of his legs up to move him a little closer to her, she knew he was alright.

Marinette went through so many stages within a single moment that her head began to spin. Surprise, shock, confusion, relief, and finally anger.

She scowled and stood, dropping his head back to the ground. “You’re such a jerk. I thought I’d killed you.”

He grinned up at her. “Well, it does hurt to move, but don’t forget, cats have nine lives.”

Marinette stared down at his cocky face as she contemplated what a well-aimed kick to the top of his head would do. She decided against it since she’d just thrown him into a big metal beam after all. “Go to hell.”

He smiled and rolled over slowly, propping himself up on his elbows. “Been there already. The devil kicked me out.”  
She scoffed and turned around. “Damn you, Chat Noir.”

He winced as he sat up. “Those who are already in Hell can’t be damned, My Lady.”

“Then what can I say or do to torture you more?” She snapped as she grabbed her yo-yo.

The smirk that crossed his face was different this time. There was something different behind it, but Marinette couldn’t place it. “You could run away again. Leave me in a world without you, My Lady.”

Marinette paused in her path of leaving. She looked over at the blond, studying him carefully. She saw the way his face contorted the longer she looked at him, and how he quickly looked away with a scowl.

She didn’t know what scared her more. The fact that she didn’t know what his look meant, or the fact that she didn’t know if he was joking or not.

“Well,” she started slowly, “if you really would hate the world without me in it, then why do you always want to stop me?”

The way his face darkened put a cold stone in her stomach and the look he was giving one of the furnaces was only comparative to the machine’s fire. “It’s for my father.”

Marinette couldn’t help the scoff that escaped her. “Of course, it is.”

She started the mechanisms in her yo-yo and rose into the air, looking back down at the leather clad teen below. “I wish you luck on getting home, Kitty.”

She heard the growl from here and smiled as he glared up at her. “I will make you mine, Ladybug. One day!”

“Is that a promise?” She asked, but didn’t wait for the answer.

She leaped through the broken skylight and took off running. She only had maybe five minutes left, and she needed to get home and changed before anyone noticed the damage done to her outfit. Luckily she had a backup corset at her home.

She only hoped Chat’s injuries were enough to keep him from following her.

  


“Tikki! Bring me the screwdriver, please!” Marinette shouted as another jet of water sprung from the regulator.

“I told you it wasn’t going to work.” The kwami noted as she flew over with the tool.

Marinette hissed as she went to work on trying to re-secure the water valve. “Everything else works. It’s only the sprinklers this time.”

“At least it waited until you were changed to break down.” Tikki joked.

Marinette was grateful for the timing, actually, and the fact that she no longer had to take a shower, so much water dumping over her in the past two minutes that all the mud and sweat from the night’s adventures had been washed away easily.

It took a moment, but after shutting off the water and struggling with a bent riveting she was able to secure the valve and chamber again easily.

When she turned the water back on she was relieved to see the machinery working and purring away, all secure except for a small leak towards the bottom.

Tikki came over to study the dripping as well, whirring disapprovingly.

Marinette looked at the small red companion and shrugged. “I’ll weld it in the morning.”

Tikki giggled and landed on Marinette’s shoulder as she bent to open the hatch leading to her room. “You mean when you wake up?”

Marinette looked at the Kwami questioningly. “What do you mean?”

Tikki smirked. “We only have an hour or so before the sun’s up, Mari.”

Marinette shook her head, looking out the greenhouse’s windows to see the lightening sky. Who knew she’d been out all night with Chat Noir and Hawkmoth’s stupid Akumas?

She sighed, looking down at her little friend as she started down the ladder to her room. “Okay, then whenever I wake up.”

Marinette climbed down and reached up to grab the hatch and pull it down. As she did, she noticed out of the corner of her eye some movement in the other end of the greenhouse, a section she’d left the ceiling windows open to air out the excess water.

She stopped, scanning the room, but couldn’t see anything else. But something was different. She could hear a small tapping, nothing too out of the ordinary. But it was there, a soft thumping that was almost muted sounding. And then it stopped.

She didn’t have to look to know Tikki had heard it too and had flown off to hide in her room. “Hello?” She called into the dark fauna nursery.

No response, of course not.

She doubted there would be a burglar. No one really wanted to deal with the hassle of planting and tending to flowers so closely, no matter how highly they sold or how much one could charge for them.

Marinette didn’t ignore the small knot in her stomach as she climbed back out onto the tiled floor, her back tightening as she slowly closed it and stood, looking around.

It was getting to the hazy time in the morning that it was almost impossible to see anything in color, and the flowers all looked washed out.

It gave her a small chill as she walked the familiar rows of plants she knew burst with color.

She rounded the corner, coming upon her work and organization area. This was where she made the arrangements and prepped the flowers for deliveries and pick-ups.

Work benches ran the length of one wall, while some of the more classic flowers lined the others. There was a box of roses, tulips, and some begonias.

But there was also something in the corner that didn’t belong.

She could only see his silhouette, but she knew the person was male by their tall frame and broad shoulders.

They stood with their back to the wall, a coat covering most of them, all she got was the smallest glints of metal here and there, off the goggles he was wearing, off his hand (maybe a ring?), and off the lining of his boots.

She watched the figure carefully but still acted like she didn’t see him, walking over to one of her benches to look out the windows she’d left open, grabbing a pair of garden shears as she leaned on the table.

When she heard him start to approach she whirled around, holding the shears at her side and watching as he slowly came out of the dark shadows.

Her heart leaped into her throat and started hammering at her breath as she saw who it was.

Chat Noir stepped out into the morning light, his goggles glinting a muted green.

She didn’t understand how he was here, or how he was even still in his transformation. It had been over an hour since she’d last seen him, surely by now he would have timed out.

And yet, here he was, slowly approaching her with his eyes like glass grating over every aspect of her.

“Ch-Chat Noir?” She questioned, letting the shock and surprise into her voice.

He paused for a moment, not only in his movement but his relentless scrutinizing. Then he seemed to take on the normal bravado he reserved for the public.

He bowed deeply with a small smirk. “I’m sorry if I scared you, Miss. But you see, I’ve lost My Lady. Have you by chance seen her?”

Marinette brought the shears up to her chest, holding them with two hands protectively. Something was wrong with Chat. He was much tenser than usual, and his speech sounded clipped and worn down. He seemed...feral almost.

“Your Lady?” Marinette questioned, her voice sounding a little too sarcastic. “Do you mean Ladybug?”

Chat’s polite grin wavered. “Y-yes. Yes. I mean Ladybug.”

Marinette studied Chat carefully, the way his shoulders were perfectly squared, the way his jaw was clenched, the way his hands twitched slightly at his side. “Why are you looking for her? Aren’t you two a couple? You should know where she is.”

She saw one of his mechanical ears quirk slightly and she knew he’d picked up on the hints of sarcasm in her voice. “You don’t think we’re together, do you?”

Marinette scoffed. “Not really. I mean, no offense, you two are good actors and all, but I don’t believe a relationship born out of fighting crime would be a good one. Besides, you don’t even know who she is, or vice versa.”

His shoulders slackened a little as a breathy chuckle escaped his nose. “I guess you’re right.”

“So, why are you looking for her?” Marinette already knew the reason. But if she wanted to keep the act up, she needed to be curious.

Chat looked around the small room, his hands coming to rest in one another at his back. “Well, you see, Ladybug is a hero, but she’s also a thief.”

“Oh?”

“She stole something that doesn’t belong to her. And I need to get her to give it back.” Chat said simply, his voice calm and collected.

“What did she steal?” Maybe now she’d be able to get it out of him.

But she knew she’d asked the wrong question as soon as his shoulders tensed and he turned on her. “See, that’s kind of the problem. She didn’t steal it from me, so I don’t know. She stole something from my father, and he wants me to bring her to him so he can get her to give it back.”

Even in the dark, it was impossible to miss the way his eyes were back to scrutinizing her; her ever feature, her every moment, even when her fingers accidentally slipped and she dropped the shears to the floor.

The sound of them hitting the floor was deafening, but she couldn’t bend to get them, not with him so close and so dangerously focused on her.

“Okay, that makes sense,” she spoke slowly as she tried to find a way to get back her only tool for defense. “But why are you here? Why are you asking me?”

The chuckles started softly, and low in his chest as he started towards her, but they rose the closer he got until it was a roaring and violently aggressive laughter. “That’s the thing, Princess,” he said softly as he looked down at her. “I have this hunch. And you’re a part of it.”

Marinette was vibrating, or it at least seemed that way. She’d never been scared of another person before, but now...she was terrified, and of none other than the young man she knew she could normally easily take on as Ladybug.

But she wasn’t Ladybug, and she had no way of easily defending herself. Except those shears.

That’s why she dropped to her knees or at least attempted to.

Chat Noir as much faster than she remembered, or was she just slower? As she dropped his hand shot out, closing strongly around her throat and lifting her carefully back to her feet as his claws closed around the soft skin above her arteries.

Panic exploded behind her eyes as fear erupted in her chest. Her blood ran cold and suddenly she lost all cognitive thought besides those surrounding the grip on her windpipe and how she was possibly going to die.

Chat leaned in close, her breath tickling her ear as she utterly turned to stone at the sound of his whispered threat, “If you go for those pitiful shears again, I will not hesitate to use them against you, Princess.”

She didn’t react, her eyes going as wide as saucers as her mind went into overdrive, trying to come up with things she could say or do that wouldn’t end up with her hurt or dead.

“Clear?” Chat hissed.

“Crystal.”

“Good.”

She heard and felt the rush of air and the hiss of steam on her cheek as the claws disengaged, falling from around her throat to allow her to breathe. She took in deep lungfuls of air as Chat Noir backed away, looking around the greenhouse.

He scrutinized the flowers, gently worrying one of the petals on a rose with his metallic claws. “You won’t tell me where Ladybug is?”

Marinette let out a bark of laughter, which made Chat snap around to glare at her. “I wouldn’t even if I did know. And why the hell are you bothering me? I’m just the daughter of a baker, and an amateur florist.”

Chat smiled, letting go of the rose to approach her slowly. Marinette didn’t back down, and that’s probably what made him stop a few feet away, his gaze taking her in. “Ladybug’s love flowers, so, I supposed she’d come here. I mean, she looked like someone from the surface…”

He moved so fast she could barely keep up. His claw snatching the rose he’d been toying with from its soil and lifting it to her agape mouth, forcing her lower jaw to close around the stem with a single pointed claw under her chin. She was terrified at how dangerous he seemed, and how he appeared to be willing to harm her. She backed up as far as she could, her back hitting a work bench.

She froze as he chuckled, his arm fully extended to keep the nail holding her teeth together in place.

“Or maybe she’s someone who simply wants a piece of the surface to always be with her…”

He trailed off, his eyes scanning her every inch, including the small sewing kit on the side of her thigh. Marinette didn’t care where he looked on her; she’d put Tikki away elsewhere. But she still didn’t appreciate the taste of plant nectar spilling over her tongue as she was forced to hold the fauna between her teeth.

She spat it out, ignoring the way it dug his claw into her skin. “If you think that I’m her then why haven’t you tied me up and taken me back to your father yet?”

Chat’s grin was worthy of his namesake. “While the thought of tying you up is quite appealing—” he switched his claw around to rest in the hollow of her throat—”I have to be sure I’m bringing the right girl back. And, unfortunately, I doubt you’re the right girl.”

He pulled back his arm then, and as if to emphasize the point Marinette’s legs buckled under her, causing her to sink down to the floor.

She stared agape up at him, his smirk not going unnoticed. She wanted nothing more than to grin up at him, to tell him that he couldn’t be any more wrong. Better judgment kept her mouth shut.

She’d never before seen him this intimidating, nor had she felt this kind of dangerous energy surrounding him. And that’s when she noticed the slight dilation of his eyes, the faster rise and fall of his chest, and the tense manner in which he stood.

He wasn’t just looking for Ladybug, he was searching for her. But why?

He seemed to notice the new focus in her eyes and turned away, targeting some more flowers with his gaze instead. “So, you have no idea where Ladybug is?”

“Why are you looking for her?” Marinette asked, her voice stronger than she would have guessed.

As Chat turned back to lock his laser gaze on her, she stood, her knees shaking slightly. “I already told you. I need to return her to my father. She’s stolen something of his and needs to be brought to justice.”

“Then why not just tell the authorities?” She questioned, taking a step toward him, each movement giving her words more power. “Why not just let them handle it? Why are you looking for her?”

She heard the snarl long before she reached out to touch his turning shoulder. She knew the sound and knew it from long battles with him. He was getting ready to pounce, or curl up into a protective and dangerous bubble, but she didn’t care. He wouldn’t hurt her.

At least, that was her hope.

She was wrong.

As she grabbed his shoulder and turned him toward her, he only used the momentum to charge at her. His hand came back to her neck, his fingers closing around her skin as she gasped.

He didn’t just hold her this time. He lifted her up, backing her up until she’d passed one of her work benches, the wood scraping along her thighs. He kept coming, standing between her legs as her head finally pressed into the window, her body fully atop the table.

She could still breathe, but the force of his hand would surely leave bruises. But she noticed something, he wasn’t using his claws this time. He was being careful with her. But why?

“You want to really know?” He ground out between clenched teeth. “You wanna know why I’ve been chasing her? Why I never really fight her? Why I never actually capture her?”

Marinette was scared, but she wasn’t going to show it. She stared him down, her gaze remaining hard even though she knew she might start crying out of fear.

He was too close. Her feet were off the ground, her thighs and back atop the table while her calves dangled off, him between them to make sure she couldn’t kick him. Her head was pressed into the glass, and the weight of the forearm now running along her sternum was enough to press her down into the table.

She wanted nothing more than to move, or to get, up, but she was at his mercy as her fingers went to claw at his metal protected grip.

“The reason I chase her so much is because I don’t hate her.” He spat it out like it was poison, his golden locks slipping down to hide one of his eyes. “I chase her around because she’s the only girl that isn’t madly in love with me. But I want her to be.”

Marinette froze, the words stinging her ears like she’d just been slapped.

She watched him and saw little things she’d never noticed before: the little hint of pink to his eyes, the subtle shaking in his arm as he held her, the way he spoke the word ‘her’ like it was a blessing and a curse.

She understood now.

He was in love with Ladybug.

She almost felt sorry for the cat.

“That’s a good thing, though.” She choked out, her voice gravelly and harsh to her own ears.

She didn’t regret the words, she simply regretted the response they received. Chat tightened his grip around her throat, taking it to the point in which it was impossible to breathe.

She started squirming under his hold, clawing frantically at his hand as her lungs began to burn for air.

“What does that mean?” He hissed out, his voice venom to her ears.

Black dots were dancing in front of Marinette’s eyes as she pounded weakly on his wrist, her other hand clawing at his thumb, hoping to get some leverage on the digit.

Finally, he seemed to take pity on the girl and released his grip enough to allow her to breathe. She gasped, wheezing and coughing as she struggled to take in air and clear away the black in her vision.

She hacked like a smoker as his hand still remained on her neck, still restricting her windpipe.

“Talk.” He barked, his fingers tightening ever so slightly.

Marinette took one last lung of air before looking up at him, tears in her eyes as she said. “There’s a difference between being in love with someone and loving someone.”

His muscles locked, she could feel it in the way his fingers went still on her skin and could see it in the way his chest seemed to stop rising and falling. “What?”

She took a moment to breathe before going on. “When you love someone, you love them with all you have, with all you are, and everything that you can give. When you’re in love with someone, you love them with your mind. It’s just an illusion, and eventually goes away.”

Now it was his turn to gape at her. Marinette had never seen those green eyes so wondering before and never before had she seen him look so scared at the same time.

He looked scared of her; a girl pinned down to a table with his hand around her throat and tears running down her face.

He was scared of her.

It shocked her into stopping her tears, and it kept her going. “If you really want to get Ladybug to be yours, you need to make her love you, not fall in love with you.”

He stared at her for a long moment, and Marinette couldn’t have blamed him. She was shocked by her own wise words, even though the most romantic thing she’d ever done was trip over her own feet in front of Adrien Agreste.

The silence stretched on and seemed to weigh on the two of them more than his arm across her chest. She could feel her own pulse in her neck slowing down, while through his gloves she could feel his speeding up.

She’d triggered something in him that she didn’t quite understand, and it gave her a new understanding of the young man.

He wasn’t just a young vigilante who was out for her. He wasn’t a robber that had broken into her little shop. He wasn’t the terrible boy she’d made him out to be.

He was a young man following orders.

He looked ready to say something, his lips parting and his throat bobbing nervously, as they heard the door open to the side of the shop.

Something was dropped on the floor and it brought Chat’s attention away from Marinette, and in that instant, she saw him turn back into the scoundrel he’d made himself out to be. He glared and hissed at the new person, releasing Marinette to step away, pulling out his staff.

And before Marinette could get out another word, he was gone, shooting up through the skylight and out into the morning light.

“Mari!” She heard screamed from her side as a strong hand shook her arm, pulling her from the haze.

She turned to look at who it was and was surprised to see a concerned Alya at her side.

“Alya?”

“Mari. Mari! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Alya started sending questions like bullets, running her hands across Marinette’s face as she checked for marks.

“N-no. He didn’t hurt me.” Marinette stuttered hazily, swallowing as Alya’s hands stilled on her shoulders.

“But, Mari, your neck!” Alya nearly screamed, pulling her hands back in shock.

Marinette shook her head. “He didn’t hurt me, Alya.”

She turned to look up through the skylight. “He didn’t hurt me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took too long, blech. I’m lame, sorry.  
> For everyone following this, I'm sorry. I've had a lot of things going on in my personal life as of late that I've been having to deal with. Thanks for the patience.


	3. Broken Justice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir tries to apologize to Marinette after what happened and gets what he deserves…or does he?

“I’m fine, really. You can go now.” Marinette said again as she attempted once again to push her brunette friend out the door.

“You don’t _sound_ fine.” Alya pointed out as she easily stood her ground in the room.

Marinette huffed and pushed harder. “It’s only minor damage, my voice will be fine.”

“It’s still damage.” Alya pointed out.

The brunette turned to the side, allowing her friend to go stumbling out onto the deck of her shop. Marinette barely caught herself as she ran into the hand bar keeping her from falling to the street below.

She turned and glared back at her friend. “That was rude.”

Alya cracked a grin and waved it off. “It only proves you need me around. You’re still hurt.”

“I also have cleaning and repairs to do, and you have some articles to write for the press, don’t you?”

Alya’s eye twitched slightly at the thought of actually doing work. “Yeah...but this could be a part of my story.”

Marinette groaned. “No, I’m not gonna be an exclusive.”

“Oh, come on! You can tell me what Chat Noir was doing here, and why he attacked you. Imagine the views!”

Marinette thought about it. As much as she would love to besmirch the name of the young man, she found her lips letting slip a resounding, “No.”

Alya pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re no help.”

Marinette sighed and stood back up, grabbing her friend and pulling her outside. “I never am when I have things to do and sleep to catch up on. C’mon, Alya. I haven’t slept in twenty hours. Please.”

It only took a little coaxing from Marinette’s tired puppy-dog eyes to bring the brunette outside. “Fine. But if you feel like ever giving me an interview, just call.”

Marinette nodded, smiling. “Alright, I will. Have a good day, Alya.”

Alya smiled and hugged her friend before finally taking off down the copper path that lead to the street below. Marinette couldn’t help herself from letting out a sigh of relief.

She walked back inside and couldn’t find the energy in her to actually go downstairs to her bed. Instead, she flipped the open sign to closed and threw herself onto the consultation couch in the corner of the shop.

She felt exhausted, and every muscle in her screamed never to move again, and she agreed. Especially with the bruises on her neck.

The aching purple and black collar Chat had left her with had been fussed over all day until finally Alya had simply wrapped some bandages around her throat to keep her from constantly touching and worrying over it.

“Honestly,” she grumbled to herself as she toyed with the bandages. “I’m a grown woman. I can take care of myself.”

“Sure you are.” Said a small voice from above her.

Marinette groaned and turned to see Tikki sitting on her decorative pillows. “I am. I mean, I’m twenty now and have my own business. I can handle myself.”

“Is that why you haven’t slept yet and you’re still playing with your neck?”

Marinette huffed and pulled her hand away. “What’s your point?”

“I don’t really have one.” Tikki admitted and started climbing down the material of her pillow, surprisingly only sinking slightly into the fabric despite her metallic body. “I actually have a question.”

“Go ahead,” Marinette said as her companion came to sit in front of her.

“Why did you keep telling Alya that he didn’t hurt you?”

Marinette was stricken by the question and had to turn her head away to avoid the prying eyes of her Kwami.

The truth was, she didn’t know. No matter how many times Alya had told her that he’d hurt her, nearly _killed_ her, she’d denied it. She’d just kept assuring her friend that she was fine, and that he hadn’t done anything.

“I don’t know.” She admitted after a little. “I guess, I just didn’t want Alya to worry about me.”

There came a little hum from Tikki as the mechanical bug girl came to lay down next to her chosen. “Maybe you did it because you wanted to protect Chat more than Alya.”

Marinette let out a small chuckle. “Now, there’s a thought.”

Sleep was calling to her now, and she couldn’t help herself from following it into a deep slumber.

That is, until she felt something brush her cheek and heard something above her.

Her eyes drifted open slowly and were greeted with the soft orange and pink light of evening pouring in through the windows. She groaned and rolled onto her back, throwing an arm over her eyes as she came to slowly accept the fact that she’d slept through the day, and probably missed a few potential consultations in the process.

“I still have to fix that stupid regulator.” She groaned to herself and let her arm fall away from her face.

“Would you like some help?”

In an instant, all of Marinette’s muscles locked and her pulse went into double time. Her eyes flicked to the side as her chest seemed to virtually stop moving.

He was kneeling next to her, framed in the golden light and the familiar flowers of her front foyer, and Marinette wasn’t one to miss the irony of the look: the tranquility of her home, mixing with the panic and fear-inducing intruder looming by her side.

Her blood turned to ice, suddenly eradicating the soreness from her muscles and mind. The only thing that was left was the pure and raging panic that made every nerve in her body sing and her mind jump into hyperdrive.

The first thing she thought of was Tikki, but the whir of her little friend was now somewhere else in the room, and Marinette was almost glad that the little companion had made her way elsewhere without being seen.

Her next worry was on how she was supposed to defend herself, closely followed by the fact that lying on her back with her arms above her head wasn’t the best position to start off in.

The final thing was the hot shock that came to her when she noticed Chat’s eyes. 

He was looking almost exclusively at her throat, not saying a word as his eyes traced the bandages carefully.

It was only a couple of seconds between her opening her eyes, and Marinette reacting, but to the both of them, it felt like a lifetime.

Finally, she shot up, turning her back against the couch as she tried to scramble away. She brought her knees up to her chest and her arms up to block him away as she contemplated her chances of her parents hearing her screams.

That is, until she saw the way Chat backed away, and brought his hands up in surrender. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

Her lungs were working again, but her mouth wasn’t. She couldn’t tell if it was her brain, her vocal cords, or her throat itself that wasn’t working; either way she couldn’t seem to form a coherent sentence or even make a noise pass her lips.

“Please,” Chat said softly and took out his staff. “I just came to apologize.”

At the sight of the metallic weapon Marinette flinched and whimpered as she crossed her arms close across her chest.

_Good job,_ she scolded herself. _You’re Ladybug, and all you can do now is sit whining and shaking._

But Marinette’s noises were cut short as she saw Chat slowly leaning to the side to place his weapon on the ground, taking his hand away easily.

Marinette still didn’t trust it. He had his claws slightly extended and she couldn’t keep her eyes from them as they glinted in the soft light.

He seemed to notice, following her gaze until they came to land on his fingertips. After a confused look, and a second later Chat seemed to realize, and flicked his thumb so the claws would contract fully.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he started slowly. “I was just...I was angry with myself and with Ladybug. I didn’t mean to take it out on you and that was wrong of me. Please, can you look at me so I know you’re hearing me?”

Marinette hadn’t realized her eyes were glued to the vase to her right until he’d mentioned it. But, she couldn’t pry her eyes off the fauna filled pottery for her life. The best she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and…

Something hot and wet went rolling down her cheeks.

_Great, now you’re crying,_ she growled internally. _That will_ really _make him leave._

The soft touch on her shoulder did nothing more than send her into a panicked flailing spree in which she nearly kicked Chat’s nose off his face.

When he’d finally backed away, and Marinette had gone back to panting and sitting facing him, she found herself staring at the carpet before him. She still couldn’t look at him, but for safety’s sake, she’d have to at least face him now to make sure he didn’t come any closer.

“I—” Chat cut himself off, cursing at himself under his breath.

Marinette found the strength in her to look up at him, only to see his eyes locked on the curtain leading back into the greenhouse. 

“I’m sorry for what I did.” He said after a moment, not taking his glare from the doorway.

Fire burned in Marinette’s chest as she heard the words leave his mouth, and she wanted nothing more in that moment than to make him hurt, and make him feel her anger.

“No, you aren’t.” She croaked out, hiding the flinch at how hoarse and scratched her voice sounded.

Chat looked surprised, his expression slackening before turning back to her. She found the strength to keep talking, and to keep her tear stained eyes locked on his. “If you were sorry, you wouldn’t have done it in the first place. You wouldn’t have broken in again and tried to come near me. You would have done something else, like leave a letter on the door or maybe sent something to be delivered.”

Chat’s expression hardened slightly as his jaw snapped shut. “Call me old fashioned, but I believe in human interaction, not the coward’s way of leaving a note or sending a gift.”

Marinette was hit by his words and she couldn’t help the shock from her expression. She felt her anger rising, not only at him, but at herself, because she knew he was right.

She looked away, not wanting him to see her frustration.

The silence that stretched on was less than comfortable to say the least. Chat simply watched her as Marinette tried to get her mind into sorts.

Finally, he broke the silence. “Can I see it?”

Marinette didn’t look at him as she let out a bitter laugh. “And why would I let you? So you can feed your sadistic mind?”

She heard the small huff from him. “So I can make sure I didn’t do anything majorly damaging.”

It took a long moment, and a lot of debating on Marinette’s part, but she finally let her hand move.

She slowly reached up, hooking her fingers into rings of bandages and unwinding them. As each loop was taken away, more of her throat was revealed to the open air, and the hotter each spot Chat’s gaze met felt.

When the end finally came loose and drifted to her lap she felt suddenly naked before him, and refused to look his way. She already knew how bad it was, and didn’t need to see the fake pity on his face.

The marks were impressively savage in how severe they were. Each of his fingers was easily seen in the black and purple lines. They branched out a little in small veins that ran up and down away from the bruises.

Her brain registered his gasp, but didn’t want to react. Still, the bitterness flowing through her made her react before she could rationalize. “You enjoying the view?” She venomously spat out. “Quite impressive, huh?”

“I—” He cut himself off again, humming softly as he seemed to think over his next words. “I didn’t have the intention of hurting you, let alone causing something like that. I’m sorry.”

Marinette scoffed. “Why don’t I—”

“Marinette.”

The sound of her own name was enough to shock her into looking at him. And what she saw was enough to cut all insults from her mind.

His expression was open and vulnerable. In his eyes she could see his sorrow and pity. He looked to be silently begging with both her and himself with forgiveness, while his face also showed a sort of reserved compassion he didn’t seem to want to show.

“I know you don’t believe me,” he said, “but I really am trying to make things right. I didn’t mean to hurt you and I’m sorry. Please—”

He reached into his jacket to pull something out and Marinette didn’t panic this time as his hands disappeared under the fabric.

What he pulled out was the most perplexing thing Marinette had ever seen.

It was a crown.

A crown made of flowers.

“I know I’m not someone to be trusted, and that you have every right to hate me. But, I just…” He took a breath before looking up to her and holding out the plant ring. “Just know I mean it when I say, ‘I’m sorry’.”

She looked between him and the crown, having her eyes flickering over all of the flowers.

She knew each type and each species, and she knew she was the only one to grow them. “So...you’re way of apologizing is ruining my merchandise?”

There wasn’t any hate or disgust in her voice this time, if anything it was curious, or even joking.

Chat took a moment before letting out a soft chuckle. “I didn’t take them from your garden, promise. I just thought...well, every princess deserves her own crown.”

There was a flashback to when he’d called her Princess before, and she didn’t exactly know if she liked the nickname or not. “I-I suppose that’s a good enough excuse.”

He looked between her and the crown for a moment before sheepishly rising to his knees. “May I…?”

It took Marinette a moment, but slowly she sat forward, letting the young man shift so he could gently set the crown atop her head. It fit pretty well for him guessing and Marinette appreciated that he’d made it so none of the stems stuck her.

“There, now you look just as noble as you are, Princess.”

“Yeah, still don’t know if I like that name.” Marinette admitted.

Chat smiled. “Would you rather I called you by your name? Marinette? Or Mari for short?”

Marinette scrunched up her nose. Her name rolling so effortlessly off the tongue of a boy she was supposed to hate made her feel...strange.

“No, I think I prefer the nickname.”

Chat stood and bowed. “As you wish, Princess.”

There was a momentary pause as Chat looked her over again, and Marinette was debating whether or not Chat was such a bad guy after all.

“Since it looks like you’re going to be okay, and like you need your rest, I’ll leave you be. Thanks for hearing me out.”

Marinette shrugged. “It’s better than starting another fight and getting myself killed.”

Chat seemed shocked by her words, even moving ever so slightly back at the thought of them. “I—”

There was a moment where she thought she saw horror on his face, but before she could fully tell, he’d schooled his expression back into something soft and maybe even caring.

“I’m not going to do anything that involves you without your permission from now on, Princess.” He said firmly. “And that’s a promise that I will keep.”

Marinette was a little surprised by how sure his voice was. “If you keep that,” she said with only the slightest hint of venom, “I’ll be more than surprised.”

Marinette will never forget the smile that crossed his lips then. She’ll never forget how genuine and bright it was as his perfectly white teeth flashed at her; as the corners of his eyes scrunched up and his gaze brightened behind the tinted glass of his goggles.

Something in Marinette changed then, and she couldn’t explain it, but she knew something in her had shifted when it came to Chat Noir.

“Then I guess my goal from here on out is to surprise you, Princess.” Chat said with the slightest chuckle to his words.

Marinette didn’t know how to respond, too shocked by the new sensation of what she was feeling towards the cat boy. So, it was left to Chat to bow and give her one last cunning grin.

“Till next time.”

And before she knew it, he was gone, through the greenhouse and out the squeaking sunroof panels.

Marinette finally found the words she’d been looking for, but she knew it was too late as Tikki finally came floating out, landing in her lap as Marinette stared at the still moving curtain.

“Till next time, Chaton.”

  


_Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up. If you throw up I’ll murder you._

Marinette swore that if she was hit in the stomach one more time she was going to start retching, and was going to try and aim for the young man bouncing around next to her.

_Note to self: no trying any of Mom’s experimental curry before going out on a mission._

“What’s the matter, My Lady?” Chat asked as he parried another attack from the akuma. “Having an off day?”

Marinette ground her teeth. She’d almost forgotten how insufferable he was after he’d made that show to apologize to her. “I’m fine, Kitty. You worry about that scaffolding.”

The cat eared young man turned to her, his eyebrow quirking up. “What scaffolding?”

Just as he asked, the Akuma hurled a razor sharp washer at him that missed and cut through the support beam behind the blond, causing that section of roof to collapse around the young man.

Marinette couldn’t keep the bitter smile from her face as she rose to her feet. “That scaffolding.”

She turned back to the Akuma, holding her stomach for good measure.

This battle was going on too long. The victim wasn’t even anything threatening, or at least shouldn’t have been. They were a clock maker that had been insulted for not being able to recreate Ladybug’s timepiece.

She didn’t blame them for getting mad, but it was always surprising the amount of malice that was held in each Akuma.

She still didn’t know where the stupid thing was hiding either. The victim hadn’t yet raised anything to their face to get another wiff of gas, so she had no clue.

She’d just have to guess and check.

She took her yo-yo up and pinpointed three objects that the Akuma could have collapsed down into. A small lense in his glasses, a pouch on his side that kept jangling, and the broken timepiece that was in his hand.

She aimed for the glasses first, using the last of her rational strength and aim not to hit the person themselves as she hooked around the rim.

The optic aids fell to the ground and shattered, but nothing came free of the frames. The only thing it apparently did was anger the Akuma, and make his aim dangerously askewed.

She heard crashes and buckling metal all around the street more lights and sun awnings were brought to the metallic roads. She had to dodge a few cogs that had been lucky enough to be aimed in her direction.

When she stood again she aimed next for the pouch.

She hooked it easily and tore the fabric to shreds as it fell into her palm. Nothing but cogs and small tools came from the pouch.

Marinette cursed under her breath and looked back to the flailing hand of the Akuma. Of course, it was always the hardest option.

“Chat!” She shouted at a moving pile of rubble, assuming he was under it. “I have to get that pocket watch away from him. Can you distract him?”

Chat came stumbling out of the rubble, wobbly and reeling on his feet. He spun lazily and saluted with two fingers to Marinette before collapsing into a sputtering pile.

Marinette let out a loud groan. Of course he wouldn’t be in any shape to fight, he just had an entire structure fall on him.

She had no choice. She had to do this on her own.

Without really any planning Marinette ran to her partner’s side and bent to scoop him up, taking off towards the nearest intact building.

After she was satisfied he was okay she took off again, this time running up one of the walls of a salon nearby. She used the momentum as she pushed off the bricks to come and land on the Akuma’s back, hooking her yo-yo around their wrist for extra balance.

Instantly, the Akuma’s attention was turned to her, and they started grappling. Marinette tensed all her muscles as more shots than not were landed on her body, and she was thrown around and around in an attempt to dislodge her from the man’s back.

She held strong, pulling at the victim’s wrist and pressing at a pressure point on the inside of their arm to make them let go of the timepiece. When it finally was let go and tumbled to the ground Marinette couldn’t help the sigh of relief that came from her.

Now all that was left to do was get down—

The Akuma was two steps ahead of her.

They grabbed her arm and pried her from their back, swinging her around like a hammer before being thrown into a nearby building.

The impact made her teeth rattle and her back ache, but Marinette still had enough sense about her to get back to her feet, and start towards the Akuma’s object.

She barely beat the nearly blind clock worker to the watch, running to the side as another gear was hurled at her head. When she finally smashed the already broken thing, the small mechanical butterfly came free and she was able to capture it in her own timepiece to defuse the anger inducing gases.

She didn’t watch as she threw open her pouch of ladybugs and let the small robotics went to work at fixing the city. She was more concerned with the blathering cat she’d left in a fashion boutique.

When she got to the building she found Chat standing in the doorway, leaning heavily on its frame and breathing slowly.

She grinned at how beat up he looked, and knew she probably didn’t look any better with her hand over her stomach and a slight limp in her right leg as the microfibers momentarily malfunctioned. Tikki really was having problems if even the suit was messing up.

“Good job, Kitty,” she mockingly praised as his eyes snapped open. “I think you win the award for longest nap taken during a battle.”

Chat’s grin was nothing short of poisonous. “All in a day’s work, My Lady. I have to make sure you get your exercise in.”

Marinette feigned swooning, throwing her arm up. “Oh, my hero. Always looking out for me.”

Chat’s grin disappeared, shifting into something Marinette couldn’t decipher as his gaze chose the doorframe he was leaning on over her.

There was a moment of silence before the two noticed the clapping and calls coming from down the street. Each groaned and looked over to the mass of reporters making their way towards the young adults.

Chat huffed, the sound sharp and hostile. “Shall we brave the paparazzi once more, My Lady?”

Marinette grimaced. “You’d swear they’d get tired of the same gimmick after a while. Smile, wave, smile again, then run off together.”

Chat shrugged, unhinging himself from the doorframe before dutifully planting himself by her side. “We’re superheroes, they’ll be satisfied with whatever they can get.”

Marinette couldn’t help the way her mind seemed to be working again, but this time in a more sinister way.

One phrase kept bouncing around, and she couldn’t help the way it was making her curious.

Tired of the same gimmick.

It set her mind alight, but she didn’t know what it really meant. “Right, so let’s give them what they want.”

What they want.

Marinette couldn’t stop thinking, and as they were swarmed by the news reporters she couldn’t keep her mind from those two lines.

Tired of the same gimmick.

What they want.

What did they want?

“Ladybug, why do you have a scarf today?” Someone shouted from the back.

“I thought it was going to be chilly today, it’s gotten a little colder since last time we fought. Superheroes can get colds too,you know.” She joked and caused a rippling laugh to bubble through the crowd.

Questions were thrown her way one at a time, and she easily evaded them until she felt Chat pressing into her.

She knew that sign. They’d done this game long enough to know he’d been tracking both their times, and by his urgency they only had a few minutes left.

There wouldn’t be enough time for a fight, but there was enough time for both of them to maybe get away.

Marinette was just waving off the last questions as a familiar voice shouted from the back, “Can you show us anything new?”

Marinette froze at the question and spun as the owner of the voice pushed and shoved her way to the front of the crowd.

Of course, Alya would be the only one to think to ask Ladybug for something new. “Excuse me, Miss, what do you mean?”

Alya cracked a devilish smirk that sparked something similar in Marinette’s mind.

“We’ve seen this all before. I mean, you two stand together and everything, but we’ve never really seen you doing anything romantic. How do we even know you’re together?”

Chat stepped forward when Marinette didn’t answer, her mind too busy trying to uncover something it’d been working on for a while now. “Ladybug and I love one another; it’s simple to see when we’re fighting together. Isn’t that proof enough?”

Alya hummed greedily and the longer it took the more desperate Chat became to get away. But Marinette was frozen, stuck by her own thoughts.

“Why don’t you prove it now then? Hold hands or something.”

Time seemed to stop as Marinette’s mind quickened and finally followed the path she’d been trying to carve for the past few minutes.

Tired of it.

Something new.

What they want.

“How ‘bout I do you one better?” She found her voice sounding before she even realized she’d spoken.

Alya quirked an eyebrow as Marinette spun on Chat and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards her as she popped up on the toes of her boots.

You’re willing to hurt civilians over me, she thought as she grinned up at the cat. You’re willing to toy with me and try to hunt me down. You’re willing to nearly kill innocents all for your stupid crush.

You’re fair game in my book.

She didn’t hesitate as she grabbed his neck and pulled him down to her. She didn’t back down as she smashed her lips to his in a hot and fired kiss. And she didn’t even flinch when she felt their teeth accidentally connect.

And when she heard the way the crowd behind her gasped and the sound of cameras snapping, it only made her grin into the kiss.

When she pulled away she could hear the uproar coming from the crowd, and she could feel the feverish pounding in her own chest. But it all seemed to fade away as she saw the look on Chat’s face.

He wasn’t looking at her in disgust or even in surprise. No, not a single one of those emotions appeared in his features. What she saw was pure and open misery and want.

He knew she’d done it to make the press go wild.

He knew she’d done it as a joke and out of a morbid curiosity.

He knew she’d done it to spite him.

He knew she’d done it to drive him a little more crazy.

What he didn’t know was how his look made her feel a cold stone of guilt rest in the pit of her belly.

She didn’t know if it was the sound of the crowd distracting her, or if it was the adrenaline leaving her from the fight, or even the guilt that kept her there, but she didn’t move.

She stayed put as Chat wrapped his arms closely around her and pulled her into him. She didn’t waver as he lowered his face to hers and pressed his lips to hers in a soft and warm kiss.

She didn’t pull away as an “awe” ran through the crowd and more pictures were snapped.

She let him kiss her, and if you asked her why later on, she’d tell you it was to tease him with something he’d never have again.

But in the moment, if you asked her, she’d tell you the truth.

She knew this was the only time he’d get what he wanted, so she let him enjoy it.

And enjoy it he did, until she heard the frantic ticking and whirring coming from her yo-yo’s timer.

She had five minutes, and by the sound of the clicking rings on his goggles, he had about the same.

They parted then, and Marinette stared up into this green eyes once more, trying to read what that was, and trying to decide what this would do to them.

She saw an internal war moving in the young man before her, and she knew he was trying to figure out the same things.

“Was that good enough?” She asked the reporters without looking at them.  
She heard a roar of approval, and before they could ask any questions she felt the road slapping under her feet and Chat’s hand in hers as she pulled the stunned hero behind her.

“Ladybug, slow down.” Chat called to her as his senses seemed to finally come back to him.

She didn’t slow down, though. She kept going, her feet pounding off the copper alleyways, and as she came to a dead end up, the brick walls as she let go of his hand and slung her yo-yo up to a chimney above.

The ticking of her miraculous was louder now, almost screaming in her ears.

She had two minutes, and she was cursing herself for dragging Chat along with her.

He’d follow her now. She knew it. He wanted answers, and she didn’t have them.

“Ladybug!” She cringed at the desperation in his voice, but she was desperate as well.

She needed to get away, and needed to find her way home. Where the hell was she anyway?

She didn’t recognize this side of town, and as she leaped into an open window it was with dumb luck that she didn’t smack face first into a mechanical horse.

She dodged under it and slid behind a box of supplies.

The microfibers surrounding her legs were malfunctioning, causing her nerves and muscles to sting and jump with pain. She had no choice, she’d have to release her transformation before it hurt her or made her reveal her locations.

As she let the mechanisms fall away, and Tikki come flying out, she knew immediately that something was wrong. The Kwami’s left antenna wasn’t working and without the function for stability she was smashing into the wall over and over until Marinette’s hands closed around her.

“Tikki, stop making so much noise.” She barked in a whisper as she heard the familiar sound of Chat’s booted feet land on the windowsill.

“I- _buzt_ -can’t. Something’s messing with my- _buzz buzz_ -main rotor.” The little mechanical girl went slamming into the wall again and fell into Marinette’s open palms.

“Then shut down or turn off or for god’s sake just do _something!_ ” She hissed and jumped as the sound of Chat’s feet hitting the floor found her ears.

Marinette frantically looked for a way out of here, but it seemed there were only two, and both were in Chat’s direction. A hatch on the floor, and the window itself.

_At least I still have my—_

Marinette reached up to make sure her mask was still in place, only to find it gone.

She took a chance and looked back, seeing the material dangling from the tale of the horse. It must have snagged when she’d barely missed running into it, and now she cursed herself for not making sure to grab it or bring an extra one.

Chat was walking around the building in a slow circle, looking around the open space before the window and beneath all the tables and statues in the room.

He seemed to notice the fabric hanging from the horse after a few moments and walked over to investigate. Marinette watched as one of his claws extended to hook onto the cloth mask and the other material.

Marinette reached up to her throat, noticing that even that scarf had been torn to bits in her flurry of running.

Something hot stung her hands as she heard the familiar hiss of her Kwami shutting down. A small jet of steam had come spitting out of Tikki’s mouth as she turned off, and Marinette knew there wasn’t a chance Chat hadn’t heard it as she turned back to her little friend.

Something was seriously wrong, but she didn’t know what, and she didn’t have enough time to really take Tikki apart and look over her again. So, she just had to tuck the Kwami into her pouch of mechanical ladybugs and hope there would be time later.

There was silence in the room, and Marinette knew that was the opposite of a good thing. She knew Chat was still in here, and if things were silent that meant she wouldn’t be able to tell where he was.

But he broke his advantage by speaking up, letting her pinpoint his location.

“I know you’re here, Ladybug.” He said, his voice staying perfectly neutral. “What was that back there?”

Marinette knew there was no way around this, at least not by trying to run from him. So, she hoped that she’d be able to talk her way out of it.

“I don’t know what you mean, Kitty.” She purred, but her voice shook with her nerves.

“You know what I mean,” he was good at keeping his voice level. “Why did you kiss me?”

Marinette frantically started looking around her for a weapon, or something she could use. “I was just trying to give them a good show. You know me, always one for the people.”

She had just gotten out a pair of narrow pliers as Chat started in a slow approach. “You know that’s not the reason.”

“Maybe for once, the things I do don’t have a deeper meaning, Kitty.” She bit out as she looked around for something better to defend herself with.

Chat didn’t seem to listen. He was still slowly approaching, each foot step seeming louder and heavier than the last. “You and I both know that’s not true.”

His feet sounded like cannon fire now, and she could almost feel the way he was looking at the tips of her boots, her bare legs, anything he could possibly spy.

She couldn’t find the words she was looking for as she heard his stride stop, and his knees hit the floor. She could feel it when he reached out, almost as if his claws were already scraping down her back.

“Please, Chat.” She pleaded with the air.

It made him pause. Rarely, outside battle did she ever use his name. And now, he’d stopped with his claws wrapped around the edge of the crate to her back.

“I’m sorry for everything, but…” she had to find the strength to let these next few words out. “But if that last kiss meant anything to you, you’ll leave me alone.”

Everything in the room seemed to stop, as if the entire world had just gasped at her audacity. Chat froze in place, and she could feel her own pulse stop for a moment.

She waited, hoping it would have the affect she was desperate for. And the longer she waited, the more attuned she became to the sound of Chat’s claws wavering slightly on the box as his hand shook.

Five heart beats was how long she had to wait, but it might as well have been eternity. Then she heard him moving, his soft footsteps leaving her side as his claws let go of the box with a metallic tink.

It took him a few moments to move again, and Marinette knew there were still words to be had between them as he slinked out of the room nearly soundlessly.

She waited to the count of three before moving to look around the box. Sure enough, Chat was gone.

She sunk back against the box with a sigh of relief before worry and fear twisted stomach. Tikki was still hurt.

Her hand dove into her bag to pull out the little Kwami automation.

Sure enough, there was still a small leak coming from somewhere in her midsection, even with her being turned off.

Marinette would have to take her to Master Fu. There was no other choice.

The city would have to do without their Ladybug for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let the angst begin.  
>  ~~and the Marichat~~


	4. Indifferent Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette needs help with Tikki, and along the way she runs into an old friend.

Stepping into the familiar foyer today was anything but calming. In fact, Marinette only remembered one time she came here and was calm for the duration of her stay. She’d been learning about her Kwami and miraculous then, but that was a long time ago.

Today’s visit was much like the rest.

Something was wrong, she couldn’t fix it, and had to leave it to the professional.

_Please be okay,_ she thought as she stepped through the sliding front door and bowed.

She was seated shortly by an older looking Chinese woman and was offered to have her bag taken. Of course, she denied the kind offer and gave the same excuse as always.

“There are some things I need in here,” She said in almost a whisper, despite the room being void of other people. “It’s that time of the month.”

The woman gave her a small nod and smile, offering her some chocolate or a water bottle instead. Marinette declined, her stomach too torn up to really enjoy the treats.

Her little ‘sighting’ outside hadn’t helped much either.

She had prayed with all her might that the zeppelin she was seeing didn’t belong to who she thought it did.

She had watched in horror as it had come to a stop above the massage and therapy parlor and dropped anchor.

And she’d broken into a sprint to get inside before the blond model that had been descending could see her.

Now she sat in the farthest corner from the door, nearly hidden by a plant in the hopes that he wouldn’t see her if he was actually coming inside.

With her luck, he’d come right in and the receptionist would seat him next to her.

In less than a minute, Marinette watched Adrien Agreste come walking into the room, be shown a seat by the receptionist, and it just so happened to be two away from herself.

If anyone could hear inside her head they would go deaf from her screaming.

She tried to focus her eyes on the carpet, on the ruffled banner on the wall, hell even the fake fern next to her. Anything to keep her mind off of the young model sitting four feet away from her.

But of course, the universe never was very kind to her.

“W-wait, is that? Marinette?”

She flinched at her own name and glanced over, meeting Adrien’s eyes for a moment before choosing a safer point of his left ear.

The smile that broke his lips made her heart skip and her cheeks light up. “H-hey, Adrien. Long t-time.”

The young man chuckled, shifting to face her instead of his slightly disgruntled secretary. “I’ll say. What has it been? Two years?”

“One year, actually,” Marinette said under her breath. “I saw you at Nino’s last recording session before he set off for the London Plat.”

Adrien snapped his fingers, looking up wistfully as a warm smirk crossed his face. “That’s right! He’d just finished setting up shop on that beat up craft before grabbing Alya for a month and setting off.”

Marinette giggled lightly at the memory. “I remember her coming back all happy then beating the heck out of him when she got back to the office and saw all the stories she’d missed.”

Adrien was chuckling now, his hands coming up to hug his stomach. “I remember the way he’d go and wait outside her office with a big speaker, playing some lame remix he made for her.”

“And how she’d throw water bottles at him with the caps undone,” Marinette added as their laughter started to mix and rise.

“The poor sap came over to my place drenched and pouting after a few hours of it.” Adrien was roaring with laughter now and Marinette couldn’t help but follow along.

Even when the secretary at the desk politely shushed them with a stern look the best they could do was go back to giggling.

Marinette found herself still staring at the rug as she tried to get her breathing under control. Oh, it was good to think of the past.

“So, what have you been up to since then?” Adrien asked, sliding over one seat so they could talk lower.

Marinette turned to try and tell him, but the poisonous look from his black and red haired assistant made her freeze, clawing her fingers into her skirt as she thought of something to say.

“O-oh, you know. A little of this, some of that,” she said with a nervous laugh. “Nothing too big.”

Adrien quirked an eyebrow, not believing her answer for a second. He followed her gaze back to his secretary and tsked her, bringing a look of surprise from the woman.

“Nathalie, she can talk about it. I know she’s the one that grows our flowers, and is also the anonymous designer.” Adrien said.

Nathalie looked as surprised as Marinette felt. “You knew, sir?”

Adrien chuckled and waved the remark off. “When you work in the modeling business you learn to pick up on little whispers. A ‘cute with black hair’ and, ‘past classmate’ was all I really needed to figure it out.”

Marinette swore she’d swallowed her tongue. She never thought in her life she’d be able to hear Adrien Agreste say the word “cute” when referring to her.

He turned back to her, smiling and leaning in a little more. “So, tell me: how has business been? I heard you were commissioned to do Chloe’s birthday, and even design her dress. That’s pretty good.”

Marinette definitely didn’t have a voice anymore, or at least one that worked right. “Y-yeah. Sh-she wasn’t the easiest to work with, but she sort of mellowed with age.”

Adrien nodded, a thoughtful look passing his eyes. “She was a bit of a handful in high school, huh?”

Marinette barked in laughter, but there wasn’t anything mean or harsh about it. “Handful? She caused at least twelve Akuma's on her own.”

“Twenty-three in total, actually,” Adrien pointed out with a smile. “At least now she’s better.”

“Much,” Marinette affirmed with a grin. “Although she’s still wearing blue eyeshadow.”

Adrien scrunched up his nose at the thought. “I can’t say I miss that.”

Marinette couldn’t help the bubbling laugher that was slipping over her lips. It was a great feeling, just being able to talk to him. It was easier now, she guessed with age she’d also mellowed.

“You do all of my arrangements, right?” Adrien asked after a moment.

Marinette smiled. “Are sunflowers yellow?”

Adrien looked at her blankly, once again reminding her that she was the only one who basically knew anything about flowers. “Okay, forget that. Yeah, I do.”

He smiled lightly. “And I also hear you designed a few articles I modeled in. Which were they?”

Marinette could have sworn her face was suddenly made of lava her cheeks were so hot. “The white vest with the inner-light lining, and the micro-mesh pants with hidden pockets at the ankles and belt loop.”  
Adrien smiled fondly as he thought back to the photo shoots and the magazines those pieces were featured in. “That vest was one of my favorite for fall, and the pants...well, I wear them around the house whenever I’m not doing anything.”

Marinette’s head snapped up, forgetting all about fussing over the carpet. “Really?”

Adrien nodded. “They’re really comfortable, and I can even exercise in them. They’re great!”

Marinette blinked, a-a compliment? “T-th-thank you!”

He grinned and gave her a small nod before seeming to think again. “Also, what’s that kind of flower that kinda smells like lavender and is really tall? It’s blue whenever we have it at shoots, but I’ve seen white versions of it too.”

Marinette thought for a second, bringing a hand up to gently touch her collarbone as she thought. “Smells like...Oh! You’re talking about Catmint.”

“Catmint? Really?” Adrien asked, a sort of devilishly joking smirk crossing his face.

Marinette nodded. “Yeah, it’s really easy to grow, and cats love the stuff. I have to keep it in a different section because the neighborhood cat likes to come and take naps in it.”

Adrien laughed softly, sinking back into this seat easily. “Well, it’s my favorite.”

Marinette nearly jumped with surprise. “I-It is?”

Adrien nodded smiling. “Yeah. Everyone thinks my favorite are those cream colored ones, but I actually really like the Catmint. They smell really nice and last a while longer than the rest.”

_Goodbye, Ranunculus. Hello, Catmint,_ Marinette said as she suddenly switched her favorite flower.

“I wouldn’t have thought it.”

The words were out of her mouth before Marinette could really stop them and she swore to herself for being so stupid.

Still, Adrien just laughed, sitting up to look at her. “And why is that?”

She was going to have a heart attack if he hit her with those eyes one more time. “It’s just such a simple flower, and it’s not at all the prettiest out of the ones I’ve seen or grown. I thought you would have liked something more exotic or...I don’t know, different.”

“Well, isn’t it different just to like the simple?” Adrien asked, a playfully daring glint in his eyes.

Marinette giggled at the look. “I suppose you’re right.”

Adrien smiled and sunk back into this seat. “I like to keep things as uncomplicated as I can. Keeps me grounded, you know?”

Marinette smiled, thinking of how good of a person Adrien was. “Well, you’re doing a really good job. You’re the most down to Earth person I know.”

“Ah, ah ah,” Adrien fakely scolded. “Down to Plat person you know.”

Marinette smiled and giggled. “Alright, down to Plat.”

Adrien grinned, reaching over to barely tap her shoulder. “See, that’s the spirit.”

Marinette smiled and relished in the feeling of his touch.

A silence fell between the two, but it wasn’t uncomfortable, unlike with Chat. No, it was...warmer. Marinette was thinking about all the good old times Alya, Nino, and them would have back in highschool, and she knew he was thinking about the same thing.

It was nice, just to be around him again and be able to reflect on the past.

But the silence wouldn’t last forever, and Adrien seemed to realize that first. “So, what are you doing here?”

She gave him a shy smile as her brain suddenly went into panic mode in trying to come up with an excuse. “You first, Mr. Hot-Shot.”

Adrien laughed lightly at the name but still ran his hand through his hair playfully. “Well, I’ve come to grace this establishment with my presence and allow them to have me as a patron.”

There was a moment as the two stared at each other, trying to keep straight faces before bursting out into another round of hushed laughter.

It took him a moment to catch his breath, but Adrien was finally able to say, “But seriously. I pulled something in my shoulder while working out. Fu’s the only one I trust to fix it.”

Marinette nodded thoughtfully. Of course, Adrien would come because of an injury.

“I’m still waiting to hear why you’re here.” He pointed out after a minute.

Marinette still didn’t have an answer for him, but something in the back of her mind clicked. She did have an excuse, and probably one of the best ones yet.

She reached up and hooked her finger under the thick choker she’d been wearing to cover up the bruises Chat had left her.

She didn’t look at Adrien as just the edge of her black neck was revealed, then quickly snapped back down to be hidden by the brown material.

She waited for the gasp, or even for the shower of questions, but all that came was a low hum, and Adrien leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

“When did that happen?” He asked, a low growl seeming to creep into his voice.

Marinette was a little surprised at the sudden switch in him but didn’t dare to point it out. “Two days ago. Actually, technically one because it happened early in the morning.”

He hummed again, and the way his hands flattened on his kneecaps didn’t go unnoticed by the raven haired girl next to him. “Was it a boyfriend or a stranger or…?”  
Marinette shook her head. “Someone I’d met before. I wouldn’t call him a friend. I’d say we’re more like acquaintances.”

The way his knuckles turned white as he gripped his knees put some alarm in her mind. “And did he get what he deserves?”  
Marinette did look at Adrien then, and out of pure shock. Never before had she thought of Adrien as being one for revenge or grudges. He was always so calm, and so gentle.

But she had a feeling this was about something more than just a guy hurting her.

She shook her head. “Not from me...but, I think he might have from someone else.”

Adrien seemed to digest the words slowly, and just as he opened his mouth to reply they heard a familiar voice drift happily from the other side of the sliding doors leading further in.

Master Fu came walking out, laughing and joking with another client. After seeing the guest off he looked over to where the two young adults were sitting, his face lighting up.

“Marinette, and Adrien! What a treat. Marinette, why don’t you come in? My how you’ve grown.”

Fu kept chattering happily as he disappeared into the back of the building but Marinette didn’t follow right away.

She stopped and turned after standing, looking over Adrien one last time. “It was really good to see you. We need to do this more often.”

It seemed harder for him to smile now. “Yeah, I’ll see what I can do with work.”

Marinette smiled. “Thanks. See you?”

Adrien nodded, leaning back into his seat. “Yeah. See ya’ later.”

And with that Marinette turned and started towards the back of the parlor, being only slightly surprised as the doors snapped shut after her.

“So, what’s the trouble now?” Fu asked as she entered the massage room.

  


“Three whole days. That’s just ridiculous. The last one was only a day! Why is this one so bad?” Marinette grumbled to herself as she once again stuck herself while trying to pin the leather of her corset back together.

She sighed, putting down the piece after a few moments to grab her thimbles. “I get that I didn’t take very good care of her in having to feed her nuts instead of washers that one time, but was that really the cause? Something that small shouldn’t have an affect on a magic mechanical companion.”

She’d been mad at herself ever since Fu had given her the news. Something in Tikki’s internal motor had been knocked loose, which had caused another part of her to malfunction. It would take three days to repair, and until then the city would have to go without their heroine, even though Hawkmoth seemed to have just come out of hiding again.

She sighed, reaching up and pulling at the choker as her bruises itched again.

Fu had given her some ointment to keep them from chaffing or from any more blood vessels bursting but had told her to basically leave it alone until it went away.

He’d estimated they’d disappear in two weeks or so. Which didn’t sit well with the Ladybug side of Marinette. It was hot during the summer, and Marinette didn’t want her scarf to become a part of her uniform.

Still, she’d made one just for that reason.

It was tedious work, always working to repair the outfit and keep her image up, but it was worth it whenever she helped a victim.

After a few more minutes of stitching, she stood, needing to stretch out.

She took a lap around her room, opening the door and walking into the rest of her apartment.

Her parents had allowed her to stay above them, with the exception that she’d have to have her own place built. It had taken some time, and money, but finally she’d had her own apartment, and with some added features.

She had her own kitchen, bathroom, sitting room (which was rarely used), and bedroom. In her bedroom, she had installed a large rotating window out by the front of the building.

It was a six foot in diameter circular window that spun from two supports on the top and bottom. She’d had it put in to allow for easier access to her room whenever she was running late as Ladybug. It came in handy a lot whenever Chat was on her tale and she had forgotten to leave a window open in the greenhouse.

That was probably one of her favorite features, besides the self-automated refrigerator.

She punched in the commands for making a sandwich on the fridge before going to grab a glass and fill it with water. By the time she came back, a perfectly sculpted turkey sub was on a plate in the dispensing shelf on the side of the machine.

She smiled and once again thanked her old classmate Max for designing the work of art in exchange for a few free venues worth of flowers.

It was an easy trade and one that was worth it when it came to midnight snacks like this.

She picked up the sub and did a small check over the room before getting a refill of water, her feet moving from hardwood to the softly cushioned carpet of her hallway as she left.

With the smell of the bakery down stairs, and the feel of her entire apartment being cushioned and soft, Marinette found it a wonder why she ever had trouble sleeping.

Well, aside from the obvious alter-ego and her late night fashion excursions, she had no idea.

And it looked like tonight would be much of the same as the last few, little sleep, and lots of coffee the next day.

She trudged back to her room, lifting her plate to her mouth so she could bite into her sandwich. It was pretty good, even though she knew the ingredients were all pretty old and she needed to go shopping again soon.

Another thing to do during her couple days away from responsibility.

Marinette didn’t really understand why she was so agitated about not being Ladybug either. She knew Chat could take care of the Plat for a few days (hell, he’d had to do it earlier that day after she turned over Tikki), but she was worried about where the Akuma's would go if she didn’t take away their injectors.

There wasn’t anything she could really do about it, but the thought still bugged her. The Plat without a hero for a few days.

“Back to designing for Chloe, I suppose.” She grumbled as she attempted another bite of her sandwich, the bread simply slipping to the side.

Marinette heard something behind her as she stepped into her room, attempting to move the top of the sub back over with her tongue, but didn’t bother to look. With her clumsiness, she likely knocked something over and would find out what later. Right now, she was too focused on her food to even notice that the lights in her room had somehow turned off.

She didn’t, that is until she heard the low chuckle behind her. “Do you need some help with that, Princess?”

Marinette’s muscles all locked as her heart skipped a few beats. Her teeth were frozen on the bread between them, her eyes shooting wide as the familiar presence came to stand behind her, his body heat warming her back slightly.

“I’m very good at giving others what they want,” Chat purred. “Although, I wouldn’t mind having a snack of my own.”

Marinette’s gasp was so quick she didn’t have time to pull the bread from her teeth before it shot down her throat. She dropped the plate as she started coughing and gasping until the wad of flour finally came back out and she was able to swallow it properly.

“What the hell is _wrong with you?! _” She demanded as she spun to face the grinning leather clad man behind her.__

__His grin only widened, turning mischievous. “It’s not my fault you didn’t swallow.”_ _

__Marinette was disgusted, but judging by the small chuckle that came from the cat boy, her blush was giving her away. “Is this your idea of making things better with someone? Break into their house, choke them with a sandwich, then just make sexual jokes while they die?”_ _

__Chat’s grin turned into a smirk, a small shrug moving his shoulders. “Who said I’m here to try and make things better?”_ _

__Marinette frowned, backing away as Chat started approaching. “If you’re not here to apologize or make nice, then what are you doing here?”_ _

__Chat’s low hum wasn’t all that reassuring and she found it hard to concentrate as she focused on the way his claws clicked at his side. She kept backing up, trying not to focus on the way his teeth flashed or the light smell of his musty leather and a mix of some sort of gas._ _

__What wasn’t hard to notice was the spool of thread that had found its way under her foot. As she took a step back, Marinette realized just too late that the ground had rolled out from under her. And suddenly she was falling backward, slipping over the wooden cylinder to crash her back into the wall only a foot away._ _

__When she looked up again she found Chat towering over her, his eyes shining and his smile a little more malicious in its spark. Her blood ran cold again and she couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped her parted lips.  
He bent at his waist, bringing his face inches from hers as his hands came to land in one another behind his back._ _

__“What’s the matter, Princess? Can’t help yourself from falling when I’m around?” He asked, his voice a low rumble._ _

__Marinette swallowed, her throat suddenly very dry. “Go to hell.”_ _

__“Been there,” Chat whispered, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. “Lovely place during the winter.”_ _

__Marinette ground her teeth as her fingers curled into fists against the plaster at her back. “What exactly do you want, Cat?”_ _

__Chat didn’t respond. His grin had slowly disappeared, slowly dissolving into something heated as he stared at her, scanning each of her features as if memorizing her face. Marinette felt strangely naked under his gaze as it roamed down her throat to her heaving chest._ _

__He sighed after a moment, straightening and offering her a hand. “I didn’t come here for this,” he admitted, shaking his head. “I came to ask you something.”_ _

__Marinette looked between his eyes and his hand. “What?”_ _

__He shook his head. “I’m not asking until you’re standing up and we can have a proper conversation. As much as I hate to admit it: this feels too familiar.”_ _

__Marinette knew what he meant. She’d been in this position too much when it came to him; smaller, scared, pushed into a corner with only her voice as a real weapon._ _

__So, she stood, but she didn’t take his hand, which, in hindsight, was a bad idea. She’d twisted her ankle when she’d stepped on the spool, and hadn’t noticed the throbbing before, too preoccupied with the cat themed young man before her._ _

__As she straightened and attempted to walk out away from the wall she found her right leg giving out, the ankle twisting again and pain shooting up her calf. She stumbled back with a hiss escaping her lips as her leg forced her against the wall again for balance._ _

__Chat’s eyebrows knit together as he watched Marinette struggle to get herself straight on one foot. “Are you alright?’_ _

__Marinette shot him a pained glare. “Does it look like I’m alright? Why is it that I always get hurt with you around?”_ _

__He frowned at that, taking the comment to heart no doubt. “I....Look, do you want help or not?”_ _

__Marinette chewed her lip as she gently set her right foot back down on the floor, the small act causing some more prickling to run through her muscles. “Can you just bring me the chair from my desk?”_ _

__Chat nodded, moving too quickly for her to be comfortable. He reappeared a second later, pushing her rolling chair before him with a sullen look. “Sit down.”_ _

__“Don’t tell me what to do.” Marinette barked, her hand brushing his away from the leather and wired seat’s back._ _

__Chat stepped back, huffing and grumbling something under his breath as Marinette sat and used her good leg to roll over to her desk._ _

__“You know, I was just trying to help” Chat bit out, his voice more annoyed than angered._ _

__Marinette scoffed. “Fantastic job so far.”_ _

__“Hey!”_ _

__It was such a sharp outburst that it made Marinette’s head snap up in surprise. Chat’s face was twisted by rage, but not the same anger she saw when she was in battle. No, this was different. It was the same anger she’d seen when he’d strangled her._ _

__She wanted to move, wanted to get away and breathe. But his gaze had frozen her, and now she couldn’t seem to get her legs working. All she could do was stare back, watching carefully for where he might move to or what he might do._ _

__She blinked at him, and he only seemed to fume more. “I just came here to ask you a question, not get bombarded by insults.”_ _

__Marinette didn’t even register her expression changing until her face was twisted into a deep scowl. Her mind was raging and she knew just why._ _

__“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I hurt your poor little feelings?” She asked, the sarcasm in her voice impossible to miss. “Last I remember you were supposed to be apologizing to me, not the other way around.”_ _

__Chat’s jaw snapped shut, his teeth grinding together as he brought his fingers up to massage his temples. “Why did I ever think you would understand?”_ _

__“Oh, I understand perfectly well,” Marinette bit out, her hand going to unconsciously rub her ankle. ”You want to try and make nice with me. But you just can’t seem to. And why is that? Hmm? Oh, I know, maybe because you don’t know how to be a decent goddamned person--”_ _

__She was cut off as Chat suddenly descended on her, his clawed hands piercing the leather at her shoulders as his fingers tore into the chair’s back. He thrust a leg between hers, resting his knee on the seat to make sure she wouldn’t get up as he lowered his face down to hers._ _

__Their noses were only inches away, and Marinette could smell just the slightest hint of mint on his breathe as he tried to breathe deeply to calm his nerves._ _

__She didn’t move, she didn’t breathe, she didn’t even blink. She could hear the hissing of the wires and air hoses from within the chair’s adjustment mechanic as his fingers flexed and brushed her shoulder. She realized just how close he’d come to digging those metallic nails into her. One inch to the side on either hand and she would have needed a new arm, and shoulder._ _

__“You don’t get it,” Chat let out, anguish making his voice soft and breathy. “I’m just trying to--”_ _

__He was cut off by a voice crack and a cough. He refused to look at her, choosing a safer location of the scarf around her throat._ _

__Marinette hated to admit it, but she felt sorry for the cat. He seemed so torn up about all this, and she wondered what had turned him into this._ _

__“I just want to find my Ladybug.” He whispers finally, and she could see the slight gleam of moisture on his eyelashes behind the sheen of his goggles._ _

__He let go then, steam tickling her shoulders as the claws contracted. She watched as he stood, his leg sliding from between hers to land with a heavy thud on the ground._ _

__He walked weightily back to Marinette’s rotating window, bending over to rest his hands on the sill and look out over the city._ _

__Suddenly, Marinette realized something. Chat wasn’t a teen anymore._ _

__Despite the never ending energy he always had during battles, and despite the fact that he always seemed to be smiling or joking, he wasn’t really the same as he used to be. She could see the way his shoulders slouched as he walked, and the way he seemed to stand solidly on his feet, instead of having the same weightless bounciness in his step._ _

__“I just want to know where she is,” he said after a while. “I just want to know if she’s okay. Her not being there today--”_ _

__Another voice crack, and another gruff cough. “She hasn’t missed a battle in over five years. Do you know what that’s like? Suddenly having the one person you depend on to fix things being gone?”_ _

__Marinette stared at Chat, at the tension in his back and at the way his mechanical ears had laid flat against his ears. He looked too old for his time, and the worst part was that he wasn’t speaking of matters unknown to Marinette._ _

__She’d had the same feeling the day high school ended, and she was recruited to start doing arrangements for the Agreste label._ _

__She’d loved the job, until she’d seen Adrien in the corner of the makeup room, looking small and cold. His face was missing the sunshine and kindness it usually oozed, instead replaced by a colder sort of emptiness._ _

__She’d wanted to run to him and ask what was wrong, tell him that everything was going to be okay and get him out of there. But she wasn’t allowed behind the stage or near the models out of fear of her identity being found out._ _

__So, she’d had to sit by idly and watch as he was stuffed into an outfit and fussed over with makeup and accessories, but wasn’t once asked if he felt okay, or was doing alright._ _

__She’d remembered the way he always smiled and was always there to make her day better if she was down, and now she couldn’t do the same for him. He was stuck in that dark and cold world of models and camera lenses._ _

__“Y--yeah, I actually do.” She said, rubbing the back of her neck as her cheeks seemed to heat up just a little._ _

__Chat turned then, staring at her. He was silhouetted by the moonlight, a soft silvery glow encompassing his frame as his face was hidden from her._ _

__She heard him whisper something under his breath, and she couldn’t quite help but notice the way his shoulders seemed to slouch just a little more._ _

__“What was that?” She asked, her voice sounding suddenly strange to her own ears._ _

__Chat didn’t speak, he simply seemed to look at her again, studying her in the dark._ _

__When he did finally move, it was to turn back around and place his forearm against the window’s curved sill and lean his forehead against it. “Birds of a feather…”_ _

__It sounded familiar to Marinette, but she couldn’t quite place it. “I know that saying.”_ _

__She could see it. She could see the moment when Chat’s lips curled up into a sad grin. “I’m glad you remember.”_ _

__She shook her head. “But I don’t...not all the way.”_ _

__Chat turned, just enough for her to see his profile, and she could see sadness in his eyes behind the tinted glass of his goggles. “You don’t know where Ladybug is?”_ _

__The sudden change in subject caught Marinette off guard. “N-no. I don’t. I’m sorry.”_ _

__Chat nodded. “It’s alright. I wish we could help each other out.”_ _

__Marinette let out a small sound, almost like a scoff, but more of a laugh. “I do to.”_ _

__Chat turned then, his head languidly moving back to the city. “Birds of a feather…”_ _

__It took a moment, but the longer she thought about it, the more Marinette remembered about that quote._ _

__It was during a lesson in class, it must have been their final year in school since Nino had grown his soul patch by then. The teacher had brought up the topic that some person who had long since died had once said that ‘birds of a feather stick together’, which meant those alike will naturally group together._ _

__For weeks after Adrien went walking around looking for his “flock”, and whenever he’d get around Nino, Alya, and her he’d grin and say, “birds of a feather.”_ _

__The small grin Chat adopted told her she’d remembered right. But how did he know about that?_ _

__“Indeed they do.” He turned to her then, his hands falling to his side as he stood tall, his shoulders squaring on her. “So, even though we’ve had our differences, what’s say these two birds stay together?”_ _

__Marinette stared at him for a long while, trying to gage what he was doing. It was amazing how he could go from being a savagely menacing beast one minute to a calm and collected young gentleman the next._ _

__Was there really a harm to having him as a friend?_ _

__“Alright.”_ _

__She’d find out._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ┏( ᐛ )┛ └( ᐛ )┐┏( ᐛ )┛ └( ᐛ )┐  
>  ~~THE ANGST QUEEN IS BACK BITCHES GET READY FOR SOME FEELS~~


	5. Rotten Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is hurt when an Akuma attacks and Ladybug is nowhere to be found. Chat comes to her rescue and takes her to somewhere safe much to her displeasure.

“Chat, stop, please,” Marinette panted as another hard thump shook her frame.

She could feel his hot breath fan out over her neck and shoulder. “Just a little longer, Princess. We’re so close.”

Chat moved again, his body pressing into hers as one of his hands tangled in her hair. She whined as a pain duly throbbed in her lower stomach again and she tried to wrap her legs more tightly around his hips.

“It hurts,” She gasped as her nails dug into his suit.

“I know it does. Just a little farther. Please, hold out, Princess,” Chat as he nearly slipped and dropped her.

She could hear the soft thudding of his boots on the wet metallic roads as he ran echoing behind her back, but she knew the alley they were in was anything but empty. The skeletal wires scraping along the brick buildings and copper streets kept her ears alive, and the pain from the gash on her belly was keeping her mind alert.

The smell of burnt leather from Chat’s suit filled her nose as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end again, the air filling with electricity as another trail of sparks shot up the small space after them.

Marinette’s eyes were filled with light as she couldn’t draw her vision from the piercing sparks. Chat reacted faster, dodging into a doorway as the power erupted a wall just outside where the two now laid.

“Are you okay?” Chat was quick to ask, sitting up and quickly grabbing Marinette up off the floor.

She panted as her stomach throbbed again, her hand shooting to apply more pressure. “I’m doing just fine. It’s not like I just got bitch-slapped by a wire clad Akuma or anything,” She barked and cringed as he propped her up against what she guessed was a freezer door.

She knew this place, they had dodged into a friend of her father’s restaurant. They were in the back by the fridges and dry storage. She could probably find her way home from here if not for the rampaging monster outside.

“The sarcasm isn’t really appreciated right now,” Chat grumbled as he looked at her stomach. “You should be fine. But I’ll be back. Stay put.”

She nodded, pressing down into her stomach with as much force as she could muster. A sour taste came to her throat as she watched Chat sprint from the building, hearing his voice echoing through the alley outside.

Marinette could feel her arms shaking as she tried to keep some pressure on the wound, but she felt so weak. She was sweating, and yet her skin felt cold and she was shivering. She was breathing too fast and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

Another explosion shook the building and she gasped as her hands slipped off her stomach for a moment, her skin slick with blood. She heard Chat scream something at the Akuma again and she cursed herself for having given up Tikki.

In a sick turn of events she’d actually been on her way to get back her Kwami when the dreaded attack had started. She hadn’t had any warning either, concern for her friend dulling her normally keen senses. One moment, she was strolling along the street looking over some new bread she had brought as payment, and the next she was against a wall with a razor wire sliding over her stomach as it attempted to twine around her torso.

She didn’t know how Chat had gotten there, or how he had pulled the wire from her without hurting her further, but soon she was in his arms, and they were off.

Now, she sat on the floor of a kitchen, choking back vomit and smelling blood and electricity as another sparking arch hit the doorway, brick erupting into the dark space.

Marinette held fast to her gash and crawled behind a counter, pressing her back to the cool metal of the storage fridge below it. She fought off the nausea and focused on the pain and the area.

Pain is a construct of the mind, 

she told herself as she took deep breaths.

It’s a chemical reaction within the mind to warm you of harm. It’s just a construct. You can ignore it.

She’d used this technique before. She was sometimes able as Ladybug to convince herself that the pain wasn’t real, and that it didn’t really affect her. It helped her before in battles whenever she was injured. It allowed her to ignore the scorching heat of a lantern Akuma, or a burning cut from a glass wielding monster. She was able to go longer and harder than normal.

But this was different, and she was having trouble blocking out the pain. She still could ignore most of it, to the point of not having to vomit anymore, but she still felt the throbbing through her whole body.

She was a civilian now. No iron will when she wasn’t in her Ladybug uniform. No way to fully do anything to the extent that Lady could.

Her body was nearly vibrating, cold shivers running up her back as sweat beads tried to chase them back down. Her hands were shaking, sending shocks of pain through her body as she tried to squeeze the radiating pain. She took a few deep breaths and tried to will her arms still.

It worked until she heard footsteps on the tiles behind her. “Princess?”

She gasped and her hand slipped again, letting a small rasp of pain to escape her lips. She rocked back, her head falling to thump against the metal behind her as leather boots nearly soundlessly rounded the corner on her.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she realized she was crying, pressing her shaking hands closer as Chat bent to look her over.

He said something to her but it was lost to the roaring of her blood.

She felt his fingers gently wrap around her wrists, pulling them away gingerly as she struggled to put them back. She was far too weak and Chat easily overpowered her.

He looked over the gash before humming and moving back. Marinette’s hands shot back to her stomach, her eyes opening to lock onto the leather clad young man.

“C-can I be sarcastic now, Kitty?” Marinette rasped as her head fell back again, biting her lip to try and ward off any vomit.

She heard a tsk come from Chat as he stood, his hands coming to land on her shoulders. “I’m going to pick you up. We’re going somewhere safe.”

Marinette shook her head. “Take me to the hospital.”

Chat returned the gesture. “If I do the media will be all over it. I can’t let them know Ladybug is missing.”

“They’re going to know anyway. The Akumas keep getting away.” She winced as she’s lifted up to rest against Chat’s chest, one of her arms instinctively coming around his shoulders.

He shook his head as he took off running, his feet gliding easily without the stress of a fight weighing him down. “They aren’t getting away.”

Marinette glanced at him skeptically. “Then how are you getting rid of them?”

Chat’s face was free of emotion as he charged ahead, taking corners easily and leaping past moving trolleys and people. He gave none of them a single glance as he sped up his pace.

“Let’s just say they aren’t fireproof.” Chat muttered as he kicked off an alley wall and leaped up onto a fire escape; taking three steps at a time until he reached the roof.

Marinette tried to take her mind away from the pain, looking around the skyline of the city. She hadn’t been to this sector before. The buildings all looked older, none of them having the newer copper laced bricks and steel veined concrete walls. Instead they had old cement and mortar with seemingly no metal built into the structures.

“Where--”

“You know,” Chat cut in suddenly. “You talk too much sometimes, Princess.”

Marinette frowned as he took another alley in a bound and slid on some loose tiles. “What the is that supposed to mean?”

Chat’s face was wooden as he stopped to scan the surrounding plaster tiles. “Sometimes you just need to go with the flow. Let what happens, happen, and trust the people you are dealing with. Some of us know what we’re doing.”

“Excuse me for thinking you should be taking me to the _medical professionals_ ,” she barked as he landed atop a round building.

He frowned and used his foot to flip up one of the panels in the glass laden roof. “I know what I’m doing. Just trust me for a little while.”

Marinette happened to catch a glimpse of where they were as Chat dropped down into the abandoned building. The structure they had entered resided about twenty meters away from the edge of the Plat; the only thing separating the two being a small brick road and a flimsy brass chain fence.

Stepping into the building shared the same majesty of falling into another dimension. It was long and narrow, almost like a hanger in the design of the arched ceiling. The only difference being the foundational bricks ending a meter off the ground, beginning the glass and bringing the total height of the building to maybe five meters tall.

Each window was cradled by metal rebar that she noticed ran the entire height of the ceiling. From one end to the other, each having their own pivoting points to allow for open airflow throughout the facility. Chat had merely dropped through one of the larger curved ones at the base of the dome-like top.

The green-tinted glass was foggy, either from dust or old age, causing the light to filter in more softly, reminding Marinette of an old romantic movie her parents and she had watched together.

She groaned as they landed on the white and baby blue tiled floor, Chat starting towards one portion of the building.

She didn’t know where he was going until she turned and saw a small sitting area set aside from the rest of the open space. There was a floral white and blue couch with an armchair and coffee table next to it, all placed on a large black and sky blue rug. It seemed odd that the area was away from the walls and set facing a larger desk that took up an entire corner of the foundation.

Chat gently lowered her onto the couch, grabbing the blanket from its back and draping it over her. Unlike the rest of the building the furniture and blanket didn’t carry a speck of dust or the musky smell. Actually, despite the amount of grubby must on the windows there didn’t seem to be a speck of it in the air.

In fact, it smelt sweet in the room. Almost like…

She glanced over the back of the couch as Chat moved to the desk across from her. She felt rage boil up inside her and she suddenly forgot all about the pain in her stomach as she found herself surrounded by her own flowers.

Cat mint, Hydrangeas, Tulips, Baby’s Breath, Sunflowers, and, oh god, a number of Roses made her stomach twist.

“Chat?” She inquired so calmly she surprised even herself. “Where are we?”

He didn’t look at her as he went about digging through an old canvas bag he had retrieved from under the work space. “Where we are is not important.”

She scowled. “It’s important to me.”

“Why is that?” He purred comically.

“Chat, I need to know where we are.”

“Why do you _need_ to know?” He droned, his synechism dripping into every syllable as he spoke.

Marinette ground her teeth, digging her nails into her stomach and forgetting about her gash. “Because whoever owns this building has stolen my livelihood and I don’t appreciate people who try and ruin my work.”

Chat scoffed as he turned back around, medical supplies in hand. “You don’t need to worry about that,” he assured as he came to kneel next to her. “This is just where the Agreste company dumps their left over flowers after every shoot. Hence all the roses from the _Lover’s Divine_ shoot last week. No one knows about this place so nothing is going to be taken from it.”

He retrieved the blanket from her side then as her anger began to fade. “So, is this where you stole the flowers for the crown from?”

Chat didn’t look at her as he studied the wound and the way the razor had cut through her corset. “It’s not stealing if no one wants it. There isn’t anyone that comes out here except me, Adrien, and the delivery men.”

“Adrien comes out here?” Marinette questioned in bewilderment as Chat gently ran a claw along the leather of her outfit, tickling her side.

“On occasion. He’s the one who put this furniture here for me.”

The explanation was simple enough, but Marinette felt as if there was something missing from the story.

“You know Adrien Agreste?”

Chat seemed to stop then, his claw millimeters away from digging into her still oozing wound.

“Are you two friends or something?”

He flinched, and she felt it when the copper tip of his claw nicked her torn skin and caused her to flinch and cry out in pain as the burning of her gash flooded back to her.

Chat grimaced and pulled his hand away, retracting his claws. “Look, Princess, I can either help fix you up or talk, but I can’t do both at the same time. I may be amazing at double tasking in battle but when it comes to concentrating like this I am not so good at the whole doing-more-than-one-thing-at-a-time thing. Ok?”

Marinette nodded as she let her head fall back onto the arm of the sofa, one of her legs kicking out at the other as he gently ran a claw along her corset again.

As she flinched once more and barked out a gasp of pain she heard Chat curse under his breath and huff. “Alright.”

“Alright what?” Marinette hissed as she swallowed down a few awful names she wished to call him.

“This is what I was trying to avoid,” Chat said with a small click of his tongue, his goggles doing the same in unison. “You and I are both in trouble here.”

“In trouble?” Marinette nearly screamed as panic burst in her chest. “What, am I going to die or something?”

“Or something,” Chat admitted as he snatched up the gauze he had deposited on the table behind him along with the rest of his haphazard supplies. “My disguise is about to time-out so I’m going to need you to trust me here. I’m going to blindfold you --”

Marinette scoffed. “What?! No. No no no, no. You think I’m going to let you blindfold me after you nearly killed me and broke into my home and threatened me another time? Fat chance, Kitty.”

Chat huffed and frowned as he tried to think of something else, anything else to say to convince her. “Marinette, I wish we could do this any other way, trust me, I do. But, this is the only way I’m going to be able to patch you up and keep my identity a secret like Lady wants me to. You need to help me out a little here and just have a little faith that I know what I’m doing.”

Marinette stopped, her breathing a little shallow as she stared up at the grime covered windows. His voice was so innocent, so void of the usual malice and threatening authority that is always carried. It was almost funny how much he sounded like...

She closed her eyes and raised her head for a second, bowing it towards him as she heard him gasp softly in surprise. “You dare touch me in any way that I don’t agree with and I’m going to take off the blindfold and go straight to my friend Alya with the new headline for tomorrow’s paper.”

Chat didn’t respond immediately, instead, she felt his fingers gently running the gauze around her eyes. His hands were soft in their movements and he wrapped the cloth loose enough to where it didn’t hurt her but tight enough to where it wouldn’t come off.

As he was tucking the end in and Marinette opened her eyes to a small amount of light shining through the white cotton she heard him murmur, “Why would I touch you and ruin everything I’m trying to get back?”

She pretended not to hear him as she laid her head back down and let her hands fall free from herself and onto the couch.

What did he mean by that? _Everything I’m trying to get back._ What was he trying to get back? They had never met before, not in person at least, and she wasn’t his friend either.

There was a slight flash and she could hear the retracting wires and retreating gears as his Kwami came back to their original state. The sound of his trench coat being shed and the gloves being slipped off seemed to echo through the hanger as a small mechanical voice whispered something to the boy next to Marinette.

“Alright, go ahead and ‘fix me up’.” She muttered as she turned her head away.

She heard a softened shift and a small chuckle that she guessed came from his Kwami. “Remember how I said you needed to trust me?”

Marinette quirked an eyebrow behind her blindfold. “Yeah, why?”

“I need to take your top off.”

It took a minute for her to digest the syllables into words her mind understood, and to feel him move again. “If you dare touch me right now I will throw you off the Plat and not look back.”

Chat sighed and slumped back, the sound of his boots hitting the floor as he shed them off not missing Marinette’s ears. “Princess, I don’t like this any more than you. I just can’t get to your wound with so much leather and copper in the way. I need to get that corset off and the undershirt hoisted up.”

Instinctively Marinette’s arms came up to cage her chest as she attempted to sit up. Her side erupted into a fiery blaze and she was forced back down by gentle hands pressed to her shoulders.

“So this was your big plan, huh? Try and kill me one time, get me to trust you, then kidnap, rape, and actually kill me the second time?” She spat as she struggled weakly under his fingers.

She knew she was stronger than this. She should be able to break free from his grip and get away from him but shock was starting to set in from the injury and pain was making her fatigued and her reactions lethargic.

She struggled against him once more but found herself being wrapped up in something softer and larger than his hands. She pressed her hands out against it from where they were now pinned to her chest. Panic was boiling in her as she tossed from side to side, his hands snaking around her body and seemingly like ghosts as they had been slipping beneath her back.

Before she knew it her arms were pinned at her sides by what she could only assume was medical bandages; tied around her wrists and looped around her back only once to hold her hands to her shoulders. Her breathing was rapid as she struggled harder, hearing Chat mutter something to himself as he pulled away.

“What the hell did you do to me?!” She screamed as she kicked and tossed, not caring how much pain it sent searing through her core.

“Relax,” Chat demanded, but his normal bravado seemed to be missing. “If you keep moving like that I’ll wrap your legs up too. I just put some precautionary bandages around you and your hands to make sure that I’m not thrown off the edge of the world anytime soon.”

“You bastard.” She spat and attempted to kick him as he leaned over her again.

She could feel it when he shrugged and heard the scowl as he relented, “I didn’t want to have to do it.”

She felt him sit up and tensed, freezing as she waited for his hands to roam her body. But they never came. He moved away from her and she could hear him rifling through the items on his desk again. The sound of metal on wood was deafening to her in the all but silent room.

She focused her senses, trying to pick up on anything in the room that could maybe make her either calm down or get her out of this situation.

The scent of the flowers filled her nose as she found the aroma of their slowly decaying petals floating along the air. It nearly made her gag at the thought of her flowers being stored here and kept for future shoots to lower their prices

She heard the small chirping of what she could only guess were mechanically engineered insects. No real bugs existed on the Plat, the altitude and lack of food making sure none of them survived. She had tried her hand at creating her own selection of robotic bugs, but the operating systems needed were too small for her to accurately calibrate and work on.

She could hear outside the sound of humming; low and throbbing like a heartbeat. There were interruptions every once in awhile in the frequency, going higher at only one point, then cutting, then going lower again. She guessed it was the turbines holding up the Plat; being so close it would be easy to hear them.

A slight breeze came through somewhere in the windows and she found herself shivering. Why was she so cold?

She shifted and was reminded once again of the cut in her side.

It had gone from the searing pain and gushing blood to what felt like a crusted over wound with merely a throbbing annoyance that she could easily ignore and had nearly forgotten about. Shifting simply caused the leather of her corset to shift along it and send a shock through her muscles.

Another shock went through her as she felt a hand gently grab her arm and start gently pulling at the sleeve of her undershirt.

“This isn’t attached to the corset is it?” Chat asked as he studied the way the fabrics looked to conjoin.

Marinette scowled, wanting to move away from his hand but knowing there was no use in trying. “Yes, they are. If you remove one you’re gonna have to take the other off too.”

Either he was living up to his name and choking on a hairball or his own tongue as Chat sputtered for a second. The feeling of something being draped over her torso came after a long silence from the blond next to her. It was awkwardly shaped, with two bands coming from the sides to lay next to her on the couch. The material was thin and soft, her fingers just barely being able to find purchase enough to pinch it.

Cotton, with a button next to her throat, and what seemed to be a folded…

“Is this a shirt? Why do you have an extra shirt?”

She heard a shift and then felt the material of her corset begin to loosen from around her. “I--Adrien...he doesn’t have the best of times at home. Neither of us does. So, he, stashed some clothing here so he could spend the night every once in awhile.”

Marinette’s breathing was becoming a little easier as her corset began to loosen even more, but she wasn’t worried about that for some reason. The thing plaguing her mind was what she was having revealed to her about the boy she still loved and had recently reunited with.

Adrien.

“Adrien comes to stay here?”

She suddenly felt her side go cold, realizing his hands had been there moments before working on cutting away the leather of her corset from under the shirt.

The sound of his hands landing in his lap was not lost on her ears. Marinette was surprised by it and the small huff that came after. “It’s relaxing...being around the plants and your work.”

“My work?”

A tearing sound pierced the silence as it seemed Chat had reclaimed his task but without his cutting apparatus. Instead, he had torn through the last of the corset and sewn on top with his own hands, sending a rush of cold air over Marinette as he pulled it free from beneath her; the leather sliding along her back like a snake.

She tried to turn to the side but a forceful and hot hand landed on her shoulder to hold her flat against the couch. She could still feel the cover of his shirt along her throat and chest but even so, she couldn’t help but try and turn and hide.

She was exposed with nothing but a thin layer of cotton between her and the world, and right now there was nothing stopping Chat from pulling it aside.

But he didn’t. Instead, he just held her down as she tried to turn, his other hand moving to grab something else.

“Have you ever wondered why I call you Princess?”

The sudden change in subject distracted her from him pulling the shirt up to show her stomach. The fabric just barely daring to show the bottom of her breasts.

“No, I haven’t really.” She relented and realized her position, going stock still.

“I call you Princess because I don’t know how you got those first seeds of yours or how you figured out your own form of botany, but you’ve inherited a kingdom that you don’t even know about.”

She frowned, her eyebrows knitting together as she tried to understand what he was saying. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, look around you,” Chat said while gesturing to the room around him. “Or I suppose just smell it for now. But, either way, these plants, these living things that are so gorgeous, are of your creation and yours alone. Not a single other person on the Plat has been able to recreate anything that you have done. Not in metal work or in automatons, or even in trying to grown their own plants because they don’t have your knowledge and skill.

“You create organic life in a world filled with metal and synthetics. You create beauty from something none of us understand. And you don’t even seem to realize what you have. The Agreste family has tried for so long to preserve these flowers here and keep them from rotting and being thrown back down to the surface, but they just can’t. That’s why they have to keep coming to you.

“You could raise your prices by three, hell, even four times as much as they are now and no one would even bat an eye because they need you and your art. And I say art because your designs are included. You don’t know how closely your designs are watched by the Agreste label and all the independent boutiques you sell to. They are waiting to see if someday you don’t put your name in your design so they can try and take it as their own and market it as triple what you offer.

“You don’t even realize it Marinette, but what you have, any of the designers and aristocrats on this floating chunk of metal would gladly kill over and yet you treat it so humbly. You don’t automate all of your deliveries and sets. You don’t mass produce or delay your designs for ‘creative processing ability’. You’re just there, doing it yourself with your bare hands, in the dirt with your hair braided back and your skirt soaked in mud.

“And, it’s all just you...this empire, it’s just you in every way.”

There was silence, save for the sound of chirping insects and piped in bird songs she only seemed to notice now.

The aroma of the flowers came back to her now, but they were different, and she seemed to pick up on the scent that she hadn’t noticed before. They smelt too sweet and too strong for how large the room was. She could smell the earth too easily in their planters and the fluids from their stems, as if they had already been cut.

She smelt the decay that was coming from them, the sickly sweet scent of the flora’s last goodbye to the world it barely came to know.

Chat was right. These flowers weren’t growing and weren’t being stored here like she had thought. This was their grave sight, and the thought of them being thrown from the Plat like garbage after all the work she put into nurturing them...it made bile bubble up her throat.

She heard a hitch in Chat’s breath and felt it when one of his hands suddenly came away from her stomach. Was he...was he crying?

“You put such passion into your work that...it gives me hope. It gives A--Adrien hope that someday he and I can maybe find something we can follow so passionately as well.”

Something in her chest moved then. She had never seen this side of Chat before. His normal bravado was gone, and all that was left behind was a normal young man. And this young man seemed to be no more than a lost and scared boy.

She felt sorry for the young cat. She had only ever known him as the fighting rogue who was relentless in trying to keep her from living her normal life. And yet, that's all he wanted as well. A normal life, with hopes and aspirations.

Marinette was living her dream. But what about Chat?

“Chat? What do you hope for?”

She could hear the sad smile in his voice as he croaked out, “I hope that someday I can find unconditional happiness. No sadness, no stress, no strings attached. That’s what I want most.”

Marinette knew that feeling all too well. All throughout secondary school, all she had wanted was to make others happy and to make herself happy. Not because of the Akuma attacks but because she always believed everyone had the right to their own life and not to be tied down by petty things like needing to feel bad about themselves for others’ benefits.

She had struggled for so long to find the balance as a hero and as a designer and florist. Finally, she had found it, but only after trying for over six years. Now, here she was, happy with the only condition of making money to support her happiness. But...Chat didn’t seem to have that.

She felt the same protective nature she had attained through her Ladybug persona coming out slowly. She needed her partner to be happy too.

Marinette sat up then, leaning over and trying to stretch out her hands to embrace the young man that sat next to her. She heard him sputtering about her clothes and felt how hot his cheeks were when she pressed her chest to his in what she hoped he would interpret as a hug.

“I’m sorry, Kitty. I’ll try and help you, I promise.”

The longer she stayed there the more relaxed Chat became, and before long she found his hand reaching into one of his pockets to produce what she guessed was a knife. The bandages holding her arms back were cut and she used her new freedom to wrap them around his waist in a gentle embrace.

Chat held her back, his arms going more tightly around her shoulders than her own, but not to the point of hurting.

“Thank you, Marinette. Really.”

She smiled and nodded. It...it felt strangely good to her to be this close to him. And it was weird, it was like she had been hugged by him before too, a small memory tugging at the back of her mind.

But before she knew it she felt him letting go, reaching around to grab the shirt that had fallen from her front to drape around her shoulders.

“Put your arms through this. I have my eyes closed so I won’t see if anything happens but I still just...I want you to keep your privacy. I’m gonna turn the other way while you put this on.”

Marinette nodded and grabbed the edges of the button up as Chat moved away She quickly fastened it and ran her fingers along her stomach underneath. Chat had somehow fully dressed her in gauze and bandages while he was talking and she hadn’t even realized it. By the feeling of pressing into the gauze he had also put some sort of cream over the cut, hopefully, something that would help the healing process.

“Thank you. The pain is gone.”

She heard him shift, probably looking to see if the coast was clear before standing and cleaning up the mess he had no doubt made on the small table before them. “It should be. That ointment was given to me by a good friend of mine. It should allow for faster healing and minimal scarring.”

“That’s incredible, but I still feel a little light headed.” Marinette remarked, pressing a hand to her fuzzy temple.

“I thought you might be. Reach forward, there’s a glass on that table. It’s just water but it should help. You were in shock because of the injury but less so than I expected.”

She hadn’t even realized he had moved until she heard the clatter of his materials hit the desk across the room. She sat up and draped her legs off the side of the couch, reaching out to feel the cold smoothness of glass pressing into her fingertips after a moment of searching the tabletop.

She reached forwards just a little farther hoping to get better purchase on the cup but found it soon tipping, and before she knew it she heard a torrent of water wash across the floor.

Chat was suddenly there by her side as she panicky felt about, trying to find something to mop up the mess.

He assured her it was ok and whistled, signaling some sort of buzzing mechanics to come and disappear just as fast.

This time he took her hand in his and guided it towards the glass, pressing the slick cup into her palm, and wrapping her fingers gently around it.

She thanked him and raised it to her lips, realizing that it was once again full and that the sound of water dripping from the table had ceased.

She guessed it was some sort of cleaning device he had called but she didn’t really have the curiosity enough to ask.

There was silence then, save for the sound of Chat organizing his drawers, pulling out different projects and tools, and the chirping of the nearby mechanism.

It wasn’t uncomfortable like all of their previous silences. No, this one was comfortable. It was as if the sunlight streaming in around them was coming through her blindfold and wrapping her in its warmth. She sunk back into the cushions at her back and enjoyed sipping her water and smelling her flowers.

Dying or not, this was a part of her empire, and she was going to enjoy it.

But it did set a spark of curiosity in her, and after what seemed like all too long, yet much too short of a time in the comfortable symphony of silence, she broke it with a cacophonous question.

“What flowers are housed here?”

Her voice sounded alien to her own ears, and the question sounded strange as if it didn’t have a place in the settling calm of their surrounds. But, the interruption didn’t seem to bother Chat.

“All of them except those creme and dark purple ones.”

Creme and dark purple ones? “Do you mean the Ranunculus?”

“If those are the ones that are reserved for Mr. Agreste and Adrien’s shoots, then yes. Those are the ones.” Chat chirped.

Marinette frowned. “Where are those kept?”

Chat brushed something from the table, or maybe it was him shrugging? She couldn’t tell. “In the Agreste Manor. They are kept in a separate observatory tower and dehydrated before being thrown into a furnace below the place to help power it.”

Marinette frowned at the thought of her livelihood being burned for fuel but was more curious as to why the special care of only those flowers.

“Does Mr. Agreste just especially hate the Ranunculus?” Marinette offered as she tried to dig deeper into their care.

Chat seemed perplexed by the question. “What? No. He actually has admitted in the past that they are his favorite. He had their pollen and nectar extracted to make a personalized cologne that he wears to galas or important shows. The petals he sometimes takes and uses in the pigment of some of his own hair products to help keep it so light.”

Marinette was surprised. She knew there was always more than one use of the plant but never would she have thought that someone like Mr. Agreste would be so attuned to the uses of biological organisms such as flora.

This time she was sure it was a shrug. “He knows he can’t actually patent and sell either the cologne or the cosmetics, though. Since it would have to be in partnership with your brand and he knows those flowers would no longer be exclusive to him and his events thus ruining their special qualities. So, he keeps them for himself. So don’t worry. You’re work is still safe.”

Marinette frowned. “How do you know so much about Mr. Agreste and my branding and, well, just, everything?”

She heard a small chuckle as the chair he had been perched in was slid back. “That, my dear, is for me to know, and you to lose sleep over. Plagg, transform me.”

There was a gust of hot air and the smell of kerosene in the air as Chat’s transformation turned him back into his superhero alter-ego.

“For now, Princess,” he murmured as he bent before her to remove the blindfold. She was greeted with the sight of his green glassed eyes, mussed blonde hair, the smell of his leather trenchcoat, and the chilling feeling of one of his gloved hands coming to intertwine gently in hers, “I need to get you home.”

She realized he hadn’t been pulling out projects but had been pulling out food for his Kwami and changing back into his normal fighting attire. The feeling of his leather clad fingers in hers gave her a shock as well. Why was he suddenly being so flirty? He never flirted, acted sexually sure, but never flirted.

Then her mind seemed to snag onto the detail of his mechanical friend and how he had needed to be fed. She had been doing something with Tikki before coming here...oh, oh dammit.

She needed an excuse for him to take her to Fu. What to use...

“Actually, can you take me somewhere else?” Marinette asked with a small pleading smile, the urgency of retrieving her own Kwami coming back to her. “I need to pick up something.”

He looked confused for a moment before one of Marinette’s hands reached up to indicate her still choker bound throat. “I still need to get this healed up before my clients begin questioning the fashion change.”

Chat’s look was nothing less than mournful, but he nodded and bent to pick her up. His hands were soft on her sides this time, gently cupping her back and legs. She wrapped her arms around his neck to make sure he wouldn’t drop her.

As he turned she thought she caught a glimpse of something unusual clipped to the back of his waist but soon convinced herself that is was nothing more than his staff and her eyes playing trick on her.

“Where to? Princess?” Chat asked as he walked over and opened one of the large sliding glass doors at the side of the building with his shoulder.

Marinette scanned the buildings around her, trying to determine if she recognized any of this part of the Plat. No luck. “There’s this little old Chinaman’s medicine and massage parlor across town from where I live--”

“Say no more.” Chat interrupted and took off sprinting nearly at his top speed.

He dodged easily in between structures and around people and before she knew it Marinette found herself being lowered onto the sidewalk outside of Fu’s shop.

“This is your stop, Princess.” Chat purred as her feet hit the copper laced bricks she was used to.

She steadied herself with her hands on his shoulders and a small smile on her face. “Thank you, Chat. I’m sorry for snapping so much earlier. I’ll believe you now about wanting to be friends.”

He grinned, the joy and warmth behind it bubbling out. It was odd but she realized she had never really seen him smile. At least, not a happy smile. Not like this.

It looked nice on him.

“It’s about time.” He purred and moved slightly closer.

Marinette didn’t know why but she didn’t move back either as she felt his hands slide around her shoulders, bringing her close for another embrace.

Why was he hugging her? Why the sudden flirting and warmth? Was he trying to prove something or make up for everything?

She didn’t know, but she let her hands drift to his torso as he held her even closer.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Princess.”

She scoffed, no malice in the noise this time. “I still think you should have taken me to the hospital.”

She felt his chest bounce with his chuckle and a smile tugged at her lips. “Maybe I should have. But I know you’ll be fine. You’re strong like that.”

She was starting to feel slightly awkward in his embrace as he buried his face in her hair.

Why?

Why was he doing this?

Why the sudden show of affection?

Why the god-y speech about her career back in the hanger?

She didn’t know, but thinking about it and trying to figure it out was making her head spin. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind as she decided on clearing her throat.

Chat got the message and released her, quickly backing away. “Oh, uh, sorry. That was--” he cleared his throat and reached behind him, going for a change of subject. “I, uh, have something for you. It’s supposed to be an apology but I hope you understand--”

They both heard the door to the shop open behind Marinette and Chat reacted quickly. He unhooked the present that was strapped to his belt and quickly moved to Marinette.

His chest nearly touched hers and she could smell the musk of leather from him as his breath tickled her forehead. Something weighty and round was lowered onto her head and Chat quickly backed away, bowing and looking...scared as he turned and launched himself up the nearest wall with his staff.

His abrupt leaving puzzled Marinette, needing the familiar voice behind her to pull her from her thoughts, “Ah, Marinette, you’re late! I have your order ready. Do you have my bread?”

She shook away her muddled mind, turning to her friend and mentor with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Master Fu, but I ran into an Akuma and lost it. Is it ok if I bring you it and some more camomile tomorrow as repayment?”

Fu’s face lit up and he moved to her side. “Of course it is, my dear. And by the way, I love the crown. Purple is representative of divinity in Chinese culture, you know? White is also the color of purity.”

“Purple and white?” Marinette muttered, bemused, as she pulled down the flower crown that Chat had clumsily given her.

What she found was a woven loop of Ranunculus perfectly crafted into the exact shape of her head. She stared in wonder at the flowers.

These were only meant for the Agreste shoots. And didn’t Chat say they were only kept in the Agreste Manor? How did he get a hold of them?

A shiver took over Marinette’s spine and she knew she was being watched. She looked over her shoulder and saw Chat perched a rooftop away on a chimney, his goggles glinting in the evening glow as he gazed down at her.

“Actually,” she corrected, not taking her eyes off the leather clad man, “they’re creme colored.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy hell this part is long and it's been too long since I last was on this website with an actual update.  
> Sorry, I'm such a pleb you guys and you have full right to hate me for not updating in so long.  
>  ~~BOOOOO Aspiring you're lame and no excuses. You're just evil for updating this and not Scrawl Mates.~~  
>  ~~not gonna lie to angst queen feels more like a fluff queen so a;lhgdapoeihgaoskdfj take it or leave it this is what I've got for now. Sorry guys.~~  
>  There is more to come I promise I just have to get a few of the things cluttering my to do list out of the way first.


	6. Falling For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette has a party and an epiphany.

Marinette twirled the Ranunculus petal around in her pocket as she gazed over the crowds before her. It was the one thing to keep her at ease in the insanity around her, but also to be driving her slowly mad.

She stood in the corner of the grand room, staring at the intricate way her vines and flowers climbed their way up the arches to the vaulted ceiling. She waited to see if a single petal would fall or if any of her work would be tampered with as the gala guests began spilling in from the large doors across the room. She flinched as so many bright colors and metallic shades came through the tinted glass. 

Sometimes, she had to admit, it made her sick how people decorated themselves with metals and gears and cogs; as if those materials couldn't have been used in a practical manner rather than aesthetically pleasing everyone but the wearer. She frowned at a young woman who had a gasket coming from the side of her bun, and another young man who seemed to not even care he had a tailpipe running along the length of his back and his tailbone.

She frowned, noting all the things she should and shouldn't do in all of her later designs. 

She was approached by a woman in black and metallic silver striped slacks and a matching suit jacket. The red streak and glasses frames perched on her nose let Marinette know exactly who it was she was about to talk with.

"Ms. Dupain-Chang, you are released for the night. The room is in order and your payment will be delivered tomorrow morning to you at the discussion of next week's shoot."

Marinette nodded and took off just as she happened to glimpse the young woman of the night who was coming through the door in her flowing pink gown and complimenting pumps.

Marinette was proud of the work she had done for Chloe's birthday. Not only in the design of the dress and shoes--not too showy but not too dressed down, mind you--but also the arrangement of flowers. Chloe had special ordered Pink Carnations to be delivered with the exception of them still being on the vines so they could be put up.

Of course, Chloe didn’t realize that Carnations don’t grow on a vine. So, Marinette had been commissioned once again (and for additional pay) to spend the night tending to the synthetic grape vines and to work on twining the flowers into the leafy tendrils that hung lazily from the ceiling.

With the contrasting oranges, coppers, and brass hints of the building meeting the dark green leaves and vines tangled with the pink of the flowers Marinette knew exactly the feel Chloe had been going for.

Nature and technology meet to create beauty.

Of course, none of the plants would be allowed to live after tonight, since most would tamper with the structural integrity of the hotel’s ballroom. But, the thought was nice.

So, as Marinette squeezed the pressed petal between two fingers she took up her work bag and slipped past the guards at the back door. Starting her way home.

She gently touched her throat, feeling the soft lace rub against her neck in a less than comfortable manner.

The bruises had nearly gone, and yet, she still needed to wear a necklace until even the yellowing marks were completely out of sight.

She was just happy they were finally leaving, and that she had Tikki back.

Marinette’s feet instinctively pick up the pace as she began jogging home. She’d missed her companion over the past few days and even now dreaded having to leave her at home like this while she went to work.

So, by the time that she started up the ramps to her workshop she was nearly at a full sprint.

When she was inside with the door safely closed and locked behind her she took a deep breath.

The feeling hadn’t left her. 

The unease.

She felt in her pocket again for the silky smooth petal that she had set over the night in a book under her desk to help keep it from rotting. Now, she found it to be the item of her demise.

Her stomach turned the longer her fingers dabbled over the veins and where they had originally conjoined to the stem.

Her head throbbed and she could feel herself starting to get lost in the wonder of it.

A purple Ranunculus.

Only one person in the entire Plat ordered that flower, and apparently kept entirely to himself.

Gabriel Agreste.

But, Marinette had met Mr. Agreste, and unless Chat’s miraculous had shrinking powers, he was much too tall and too slim to be Chat.

So...how?

She thought about her time with her feline adversary the day before in the hanger. How he had kept stumbling over his words and mixing pronouns with names.

She recalled the way he had suddenly changed outside of his persona and how he spoke of openly admiring her.

She mentally gazed up into the green-tinted eyes behind the goggles and the blond hair that fell forward into his face.

The look that made him look so feral, so dangerous, so foreign.

The feeling of his hands on her; gentle, soft, familiar.

Her stomach lurched as a name came to mind and she had no choice but to sit down on the floor before her knees gave way.

There was no way.

There had to be a better explanation than it being him.

She refused to believe that the boy she loved was also the one that had tried to kill her.

Her hand went to touch her throat as she drew up the image of Adrien in Fu’s parlor, looking so angered and...mournful?

How had she not seen it before?

The sadness in his eyes, the way his hands had twitched when she said Chat had gotten what he deserved.

She cringed and held her breath against the wave of nausea and headache that tumbled over her.

She slumped forward, looking down at the petal she pulled from her pocket.

How?

How could this happen?

“I guess, you found out.”

Marinette’s head slowly raised to see Tikki peeking out from behind the door frame to the greenhouse. The little Kwami looked more scared than anything as she hesitated in hovering over to her chosen.

But, after a long and pained look from Marinette, a plea to have some answers, she relinquished her spot behind the metal entry.

She flew over slowly, testing her antennae propellers as she went, but Marinette knew she was just stalling the inevitable.

Tikki landed on Marinette’s knees and grabbed an antennae, toying with it as she avoided her friend’s eyes.

“Uh, so, how are things?”

Marinette nearly laughed at how ridiculous her Kwami was acting. “You knew?” She chose to bark instead.

The mechanical ladybug girl cringed and looked up. “N-no! Well, yes. Wait, actually, not exactly.”

Marinette ground her teeth. “What do you mean, ‘not exactly’?”

Her Kwami winced and let go of her antennae so she could fly up to look at her wielder. “I knew that there was a miraculous in the Agreste family, I just don’t know who had or still does have it. It felt like Plagg, but it also felt like a few others as well.”

Marinette rubbed her temples in an attempt to quell her mind’s onslaught of throbbing. “Others? How many others?’

Tikki seemed to think for a moment. “Two, so three in total. Each of us gives off a charge that can linger on metal pieces of clothing or tools. Only other Kwami’s can sense it but each is unique to the Kwami.”

This was making little to no sense to Marinette. “So, are you saying you've broken again? There can’t be more than one Kwami in their house if Adrien is…”

Marinette stopped, thinking for a moment.

If Adrien _was_ Chat Noir. That would mean Mr. Agreste is…

It felt as if the final piece of a puzzle she had been trying to solve for years had finally fallen into place.

Could Hawk Moth be Chat Noir’s father? Is that why Chat was so hell-bent on getting her to give up what she stole? Was he referring to the Miraculous she was given?

She looked at her Kwami, knowing the little companion was already one step ahead of her.

“They’re both at Chloe’s party tonight,” Marinette remembered with a shock as she shot to her feet. “I need to find a way into that party so I can talk to Adrien. If I get him alone I can maybe get him to tell me if he’s Chat. And if he is then I can explain things and maybe talk some sense into him.”

Tikki flew up to Marinette’s height as the young woman moved through her shop and down into her home with remarkable speed. “Do you have anything to wear?”

Marinette pulled open her closet. “I thought that Chloe would want me to stay for the rest of the night to tend to things so I made a dress just in case. That way I wouldn’t stand out too much.”

She pulled out the red and copper cocktail gown, its slit leg design being perfect for still letting the bionics attach if anything went horribly wrong.

There was no way she was going to be leaving for the party without Tikki if both Chat and Hawk Moth are going to be there.

She had just pulled off her work shirt when she realized one key factor. You needed an invitation to get in.

She racked her brain for a solution, half frozen with her shirt pulled over her elbows as Tikki fluttered by nervously straightening any wrinkles she saw in Marinette’s dress.

How would she get in? There weren’t any hatches in the building that weren’t already covered in the synthetic vines. She couldn’t get in them without messing up her own handiwork that she had toiled hours over, and she couldn’t just go walking in the front door because of security.

Adrien was going to be there, she knew that, and she knew she needed to talk to him.

She scoured her mind for any other possible way in or any other way she could get Chat alone without him attacking her or her causing a scene but she only drew a blank.

Her head pounded as she dropped her shirt to the floor and nervously gnawed on one of her nails, pacing around, trying to think of a solution.

“What’s the matter? Don’t you need to change?” Tikki berated her as she hovered nervously by.

“I can't go. I’m not invited.” Marinette offered as if that explained everything that was going through her mind.

Tikki made a sound that was as close to a human sputter as she could manage. “Who cares about invites?”

“If I go, I’ll lose my pay for the venue, and I need the money Tikki,” Marinette growled as she pushed her brain into focusing.

Tikki scoffed, flying to stop the young woman in her tracks. “You’re Ladybug, you don’t need an invitation. Besides, Chloe loves you! I bet she’d be more than happy to have her superhero stop by to wish her a happy birthday.”

Marinette rolled the idea around her head for a moment. Surely the guards would let in Ladybug, not only for her celebrity status but for the protective qualities of having her there. Chloe would be ecstatic for having her around and Marinette saw no issue in her needing to pull aside Adrien if she’s in Ladybug form.

She could just simply say she needed to ask him about an Akuma in his shoot that happened the week before, or if the last one had been caused by his father’s company in any way.

She pulled the gnarled nail from her mouth and quickly stripped off the rest of her clothing, hoping to god the dress would work with her transformation.

She slipped it on effortlessly and with a little help from Tikki got it properly tightened and adjusted.

“Tikki! Transform me!”

She waited for the familiar outfit to encompass her, but this time things were different.

The normal striped leggings turned into silky, ombre black tights with the microfilaments giving off a silver shine. Wires wound into a mechanized arm brace for her right side, taking up all skin besides her exposed hand. Even so, the tendrils came down to wrap around her wrist and twine into a single line of support along her middle bone, where it twined around the finger almost like an accessory.

Her other arm was brandished with a golden vine of wires running to her wrist, thin as paper and hard to see but easily felt in how they aided her movement.

As she pulled her hair up into a quick spiral bun and put on her normal ribbon mask she felt the mechanics of her suit come up to form a protective wire-lace collar around her throat.

She took off her previous one and looked at herself in the mirror.

She had her breath taken away by the sight of herself, and that was a rarity for her. Marinette made a mental note to commend Tikki for her ability to adapt to any situation.

Without pause, Marinette wound her way out of her home and out into the setting sun.

  


Getting into the party had been easy enough. Marinette had made sure to ask the guards not to notify Chloe since she was there as a surprise, and because of that, no one had yet recognized the masked heroin.

As she strolled through the crowd, weaving her way through the ever-changing bodies, she found herself noting how some people had ignored the fact that only Chloe was supposed to wear a mask. The young blonde wanted to emulate a Cinderella theme in only her own style of dressing, but a few guests had neglected to leave out the fashion decision.

Marinette thanked those who wore the accessories silently as she slipped past a young man being interrogated for looking too much like Chat Noir in his mask.

She took one glance at the boy and moved on.

_Chat has blond hair,_ she mentally scolded the young woman jabbing a finger at the poor and confused youth, _not red._

After searching for an indiscriminate amount of time Marinette knew this had been poorly thought out on her part. Of course, it was going to be hard to find Adrien in a crowd like this, but she didn’t know it was going to be impossible.

At least no one had--

“Ladybug?” She heard from behind her and immediately tensed.

_Shit._

She turned, plastering on the best fake smile she could muster before facing the girl this ball was being thrown for.

Chloe’s face lit up and she squealed, luckily only drawing the attention of one young man nearby, who seemed to lose interest upon noticing the source.

The blonde brat rushed over, nearly tackling Marinette in a hug as she lurched back to support the physical onslaught.

“I can’t believe I get to see Ladybug today. And on my birthday nonetheless! Oh, did daddy invite you or did you just come? Oh, never mind. You’re here! This really is the best birthday ever!” She continued to scream, luckily not alarming any of the other guests.

Marinette noted that those around seemed even more used to Chloe’s overreacting than she was.

“Yes, yes, I am here, Ms. Bourgeois,” Marinette sputtered with a nervous laugh and pat on Chloe’s back. “But, you need to keep it down. I’m here to make sure things go smoothly tonight for you.”

Chloe pulled away, looking saddened to hear her favorite hero wasn’t, in fact, here for her.

Marinette sighed, pulling the young woman into an awkward hug. “And, I’m here to tell you...happy birthday.”

It sounded like an afterthought, (to be fair it was) but it seemed enough for Chloe.

Her face cracked into a grin behind her mask, her dress puffing up with each bounce the young woman performed.

She hugged Marinette again, too tightly this time. The raven-haired girl worried the dress she designed would be ruined by all the pressure on the ruffled skirt.

“I promise I won’t tell anyone you are here,” Chloe whispered, giving Marinette a small bit of relief.

Quickly, the blonde seemed to change demeanor. She quickly let go of the heroine, moving instead to go spinning off into the crowd, almost ignoring Marinette.

That is until she turned one last time and blew a kiss to the young woman she had nearly bowled over moments before.

Marinette felt a cold shiver go down her spine.

What the hell had she done to deserve a fan like _that?_

Either way, she was gone and Marinette could breathe.

She sighed and turned around, looking feebly for the young man she had come here for in the first place.

She luckily didn’t have to look far.

As she took off into the crowd someone moved in her way, both of them tumbling down into a pile on the floor as she plowed straight over them.

Marinette winced and apologized to the young man she had just fallen on before realizing just who she had stumbled into.

A pair of meadow green eyes stared up at her from behind a mop of blond hair. Oh, god, did they look dangerously innocent when he wasn’t Chat.

Adrien blinked up at Marinette, seemingly baffled by the sight before him.

“L--ladybug?” He demanded, shock lacing every letter of her name.

A ping ran through her, from the top of her head to her toes, causing her to freeze above him, one uncovered leg slipping from her gown to land on the floor between his.

If not for the situation and people staring, she would have thought this the most romantic scene ever.

It took her a moment to shake her mind back into sorts, but soon she was sitting up on her knees, going to stand.

She offered Adrien a hand, reminding herself that this is possibly the same boy that had nearly killed her on a handful of accounts and left her with the bruises still on her throat.

“I’m sorry, Adrien. I was actually just looking for someone.” She said, her voice dangerously smooth and alluring.

He took her hand with a small grin pulling at his lips, his eyes sparking at her tone. “Well, if it was me then I think you’ve found him.”

As he stood he seemed to read her expression. She didn’t try to hide it either. The pain and the anger that creased her brow, while the concern and uncertainty drew her eyes away from his and instead to his lips.

“Were you looking for me?” He questions, his voice more surprised than anything.

Before Marinette can answer a loud voice booms through the room and everyone turns to see none other than Nino standing on a stage opposite the doors.

He looks dressed up enough for the venue in a slightly unbuttoned white shirt and a pair of black and copper trousers, but his bronze hat and silver headset let Marinette know immediately that he was to be the one saving anyone from hearing their conversations tonight.

She thanked him quietly for always playing loud and annoying music.

“Alright, all you lovebirds best get ready,” he chirped from the stage with a grin, “cause t’night we are starting off with a slow dance just for all you starstruck devils out there.”

Marinette made a mental note to kick Nino’s ass next she saw him.

How was she supposed to talk to Adrien without drawing attention during a couple’s dance number? Chloe was going to be here any moment asking for him to dance with her--

“Well, if you were looking for me, do you want to talk during a dance?” Adrien cut off her thoughts.

She opened her mouth to reply but found no words. Even when he wasn’t Chat Noir this guy had always been more articulate than her.

She simply relinquished her arms to his shoulders and hands as he pulled her close and began swaying as soon as the first soft piano notes pierced the air.

Things were deadly silent and still, and yet people were moving around, and there was music. Marinette was sure of it. There had been music, hadn’t there?

She was sure there had been a thousand or more people in the room just moments ago, and that the music had been too loud for thought. But now, all she saw was Adrien before her, and all she heard was his soft bitter laughter.

She felt his hands hot on her own and grasping her side. He was warm, too warm. Everywhere he touched felt like it had caught fire and was going to melt away.

Something sickly sweet and silky smelling reached her nose and she realized it was the scent of Ranunculus. He must be wearing the perfume Chat had talked about before. The kind that Gabriel only made for himself.

It was another sign that this was her cat, she knew it.

Her breathing sped up and she felt her heart pumping feverishly in her chest. Her palms felt sweaty and clammy and she hoped he wouldn’t notice as she sucked one of her lips between her teeth.

Why was she getting so nervous? He had been around this boy so many times before and nothing like this had happened when she was Ladybug.

He leaned closer and she could feel the heat coming off his skin and hear the beating of his heart, or was that her own?

“Where have you been for the past few days? I saw you weren’t at the last Akuma attack.”

Marinette was shocked by the silky poison that was laced into his words. If she hadn’t known any better she would have told anyone that he already hated her.

_Oh, wait,_ she thought with a shiver, _he might._

She offered him a smile, trying to seem cool and casual. “I had some other business to attend to. Something had happened to a friend of mine so I left things for Chat to take care of. Kitty did a good job on his own, I would say.”

Adrien’s face seemed to darken a little, but he shook it off and offered her a bitter smile. “Chat seemed a little lost without you. I even heard that some people got hurt during the last attack.”

Marinette nearly choked on her own tongue. Not a single news outlet had reported any injuries for any of the recent attacks, she knew that better than anyone because of Alya. But no, Adrien had brought up _her_ injury like it was nothing.

There was no doubt in her mind now that she was dealing with a very dangerous young man at this moment, just without his smoke and mirrors.

“I didn’t hear about any injuries from the tabloids.” She noted, looking at him skeptically.

A bitter smile took over his face as he held her closer, his hands sliding to the small of her back. “Well, I think Chat mentioned something about not wanting to let people know about it the other day.”

“Oh?” Marinette quipped, feeling ever so vulnerable in his grasp even though she was the one with her suit in place. “Are you and Kitty acquainted?”

There it was, the smallest twitch in his eye at the nickname. She knew he hated it, and that’s exactly why she was using it now, to hopefully draw the cat out so she could maybe get him to follow her.

If she just got him away from his father…

“I guess you could say he and I have met.” Adrien offered, a cruel grin tickling his eyes.

Marinette shivered and knew that by now someone must have noticed them, they needed to get out of there so she could talk to him in private.

“Well, I think you two are more than just friends,” she purred. “In fact, I think you two could very much be the same person, you’re so alike.”

“Is that so?” Adrien questioned with a sharp laugh, looking at the crowd to avoid her gaze. “Good to know you could maybe fall for me like you’ve fallen for him.”

Marinette winced internally, remembering her revenge kiss.

He had the upper hand in this conversation and she knew she needed to end it before he got too far into her head.

She was just so thrown off by his behavior that it was hard to think of what to say.

Why was he acting so cruel? Where had the Adrien she’d seen in Fu’s parlor only days before gone? Was it because he had destroyed the Akuma’s himself that he was acting like this? Had he been affected by their spray?

She offered him a sweet but sad smile, flipping into the best actress mode she had. “Well, you see, that’s the problem,” she sighed dramatically. “I miss my Kitty. I haven’t seen him in days and I was hoping I could talk to him outside for a little while.”

Just as fast as she had changed Adrien did the same. His face grew dark and his eyes sharp, his hand on her back pulled her in flush against him as his other hand came to her neck, gently running against it as he brushed her hair away from her shoulder.

It sent shivers down her spine and nearly drew a whimper from her throat as she tried desperately to think of anything but his hands on her. The memories of last time he was this close to her throat clawing at the back of her eyes.

“I think he’d like nothing more than to see you. I’ll have him there for you in a moment.” He whispered from her ear, his lips brushing her skin.

She refused to squirm from his arms at the sound and simply waited for him to let go.

He finally relinquished his grip on her when he didn’t get a reaction, backing away to bow and take his leave.

Marinette found her lungs working again, but this time they had seemingly shrunk in size. She couldn’t get enough air to clear her dizzy mind.

Her feet felt like bricks and her legs lead pipes as she numbly stumbled through the crowd, trying her best to ignore the way that people stared at her as she kept her eyes locked on the front entrance.

What had just happened? How had he had such a toxic effect on her?

She couldn’t even come up with a feasible reaction to what had just occurred as she burst through the front doors and out into the night air.

It was cold and on her bare face and lungs. It felt amazing; helping to sharpen her mind a little.

But a smell was still stuck in her nose, making her vision swim and her limbs nearly melt off her. The longer she breathed the night air the more it cleared from her sinuses but she still felt the powerful effects of it.

That cologne. It was the thing that was doing this to her. She knew it.

It had the power to make her docile, dizzy, unable to do or think of anything willingly. Is that how Hawkmoth was able to control Adrien for all of these years? Wearing that cologne every time they met so he would become just as trained as a common pet?

She heard the footsteps on the building’s roof above, she knew she did, and the sound of fabric flapping in wind as something fell; her mind just couldn’t keep up with what was going on or process what the sound was until it was almost too late.

She dove out of the way just in time, Chat landing on the road next to her hard enough to chip the metal and brick surface as his hydraulic leg supports let out a hiss of steam.

His eyes burned poisonously as she stumbled to her feet sluggishly, trying to blink away her swimming vision.

This was bad. He knew he had an advantage, and she knew just how dangerous he was when he was in this state. The real question was how willingly would he take revenge on her?

“What’s the matter?” He purred, his voice tearing into her bit by bit. “Is someone having a little trouble?”

He grinned as she stumbled back, her back hitting the wall of the grand hotel. “What did you do to me?”

It was a ridiculous question, she already knew the answer. But, her mouth had spoken before she could even process the words she had intended to say.

Many of them contained only four letters.

Her hands scrambled for her yo-yo as he started towards her, laughing bitterly. “What you’re feeling now is exactly how you left me after you kissed me. Does that seem fair?”

Marinette swallowed thickly, looking around for anything she could focus on enough to throw at. “No, no it isn’t fair and I’m sorry, Chat. I really am.”

He shook his head, his eyes closing for a split second as his arm wound back. “You’re way too late for an apology.”

She didn’t have time to wait and talk. Marinette desperately chucked her yo-yo at a nearby window ledge as she heard the pistons in his arm engaging.

The mechanisms in her yo-yo nearly pulled her arm off as it drug her away just in time to hear his hand hit the wall hard enough to fracture and disintegrate a lot of the bricks.

_That’s new,_ she thought bitterly as she stumbled over her own feet to try and get away.

She could hear him shout after her but she couldn’t afford to be distracted by his voice or the sound of his feet behind her, slowly gaining.

She had to focus on her own steps, and making sure they didn’t falter as she ran along the changing buildings. Familiar designs and skylines moving to older and less familiar architecture the longer she ran and the more tired she became.

Then, she finally hit the end of the road, literally.

It was a desperate move, just as she heard Chat shout out after her, his hand just grazing her shoulders, she rocketed herself forward off the roof of a factory. She realized they had come to the end of the Plat a little too late.

She spun as she saw the matte brick streets disappear from beneath her to reveal nothing but smoldering clouds below, frantically throwing her yo-yo to one of the guard rails.

It caught, but just barely. Her shoulders ached and groaned as she clung to her control on the life-saving device, hitting the button to ascend away from the plummet to hell below.

As she painfully hoisted herself up from her own demise she saw the copper-tipped boots before feeling the claws close around her throat and lift her easily back to the Plat.

The wiring around her throat strained to protect her from his grasp, and luckily this time she could still breathe.

His grin was so deadly she began to question if she’d rather deal with him or the fall.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked, his flirty malice pulling on her heart as she clawed at his hand.

“Adrien, I know it’s you, please.” She begged, tears coming to her eyes. “Why are you doing this?”

He shook his head. “Oh, so now you finally figure it out.”

The look he was giving her was so profoundly hateful, but also so hurt she started to wonder if she had done anything else to this young man beyond their fights.

“You know; I’ve known for years that you were Ladybug. I’ve known ever since we graduated,” he relented, his grip on her throat shaking ever so slightly. “You never knew, though. Do you know how hard it’s been not to come and catch you at your shop. How long I’ve kept your secret from him?”

Marinette shook her head, trying desperately to think of something to say, but she could smell the cologne again and it was clouding her mind. All she could see were his burning green eyes and his gritted teeth. “I don’t. But if you let me go we can talk about it and find a way to stop him.”

Chat’s eyes burned into her as his jaw clenched, his hand tightening. “Stop him? He gives me the thing you stole from me,” he barked, pulling her close so her toes just barely touched the tops of his boots as his lips brushed her ear. “He gives me the dignity you stole with that kiss...”

Marinette’s eyes went wide, shooting to gaze at the green eyes she desperately wanted to plead with. What was he thinking?

“And a chance for revenge.”

That’s when her heart stopped. Her lungs ceased to work and no amount of magical body armor would ever convince her that his words didn’t pierce right through her chest.

Her fingers became frantic as his face hardened and his grip suddenly became too strong for the wiring on her throat, restricting her breathing as he ground his teeth.

“You learned how to grow your flowers from a surface dweller, right?” Chat purred, his arm pulling her back just a little further. “Why don’t you go tell them how things are going for you, Mari?”

And before Marinette could even make a sound Chat took a step back to brace himself.

The piston in his arm rocketed forward with such speed she was amazed that her head didn’t come off. When he let go she flew at least ten feet away from the edge before she began to fall, but that ten feet could have lasted a lifetime.

Her fingers caught on his suit jacket, ripping free the cuff and the pendant cufflink with it. But, neither one of them was focused on that.

She was focused on the look of utter disgust and betrayal that pressed his face to stone as his fingers stood open to the air between them. She was focused on the tightness of his jaw and the broad bite of his turning shoulders.

She was focused on the hot cursed tears running from his eyes to pool in the bottom of his goggles.

As she fell past the side of the Plat, looking at all the ventilation and piping she felt numb, her arms not quite working with her.

She couldn’t hear anything, the wind was too loud.

Was she screaming?

Was he screaming?

No, it was silent.

An oddly peaceful silence that seemed to lull her just enough to take her away from her home.

She threw her yo-yo once, not really targeting as she did so. And when it bounced off one of the water pipes under the Plat she felt the final piece of her heartbreak.

As she descended into the murky clouds below she kept her eyes open for anything to save herself with, knowing this was going to be her best chance at survival.

Just as she was about to give up hope, she saw it; a church spire.

She wound up her arm and with what strength she could muster she propelled the yo-yo forward to wrap around the highest point.

It caught, and she swung around, crashing hard into the ground that suddenly rushed up to great her like an old friend.

She rolled on impact, landing in sut and muck, not caring as she came to rest in a pile of broken bricks and wood.

She’d made it safe, but, she couldn’t celebrate. She felt herself drifting out of consciousness as the smell of Ranunculus mixed with the poisoned air to fill her lungs in a suffocating cloud.

As she closed her eyes she welcomed the dark, hoping she would wake up and this had all been a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~HOLY HELL I'M LAME AS A WRITER~~  
>  So much has been going on for me you guys you don't even know but here I am.  
> Yes, I'm alive.  
> Yes, things have worked themselves out.  
> And yes I'll work on updating again on all the stories.  
> Thank you so much for sticking through this with me I love you all so much.


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